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Space mirrors that reflect sunlight back to Earth, such as Russia’s Znamya
satellite, could blind skywatchers on the ground, say Canadian astronomers.
James Laframboise of York University and Ralph Chou of the University of
Waterloo calculated that Znamya would appear as bright as the Sun to someone
near the centre of the beam. If they were gazing through a telescope or
binoculars at the time there would be “a serious risk of eye damage”, the
researchers say in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of
Canada (vol 94, p 237).