Related: Chinese scientists call for plan to destroy Elon Musk's Starlink satellites In a new paper, uploaded Sept. 27 to the preprint server arXiv, astronomers analyzed the first ground-based observations of the recently deployed satellites. These initial sightings revealed that the satellites are much brighter than expected. (The study's findings have not yet been peer-reviewed.) The profile of the light signatures given off by the satellites also confirms what little information we had about the satellites design, the researchers noted. They appear to have a flat antenna panel facing toward the Earth and a perpendicular solar array pointing away from our planet, similar to Starlink satellites, researchers wrote. Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. At their peak brightness, when the satellites are positioned directly above the observer, the spacecraft can reach an apparent magnitude of 4 — around the same as most stars visible at night from urban areas — while the brightness drops off to an apparent magnitude of 8 (40 times fainter than magnitude 4) when the satellites are closer to the horizon. (Apparent magnitude is measured on a logarithmic scale where smaller values are attributed to brighter objects.) Bright satellites can photobomb astronomical images. The white streak in this 2022 timelapse photo is the giant BlueWalker 3 satellite. (Image credit: CLEOsat/Ckoirama Observatory/IAU CPS. E. Unda-Sanzana) The scientists warn that some Qianfan satellites are scheduled to be deployed at even lower altitudes in LEO, meaning they could end up being 1 to 2 magnitudes brighter than those observed in the new study. Once the megaconstellation begins to take shape, it "will adversely impact professional and amateur astronomical activities unless the operators mitigate their brightness," the researchers wrote in the paper.