If there is so much space junk around the earth, how can we not see anything?

Everyone knows that there is a huge amount of debris circling around our planet, and chances are you've seen similar images to the ones below - which roughly maps the amount of space debris in orbit. around us. And there's trash, see!

These little dots all represent fragments and satellites that orbit around the earth.

According to a survey released by NASA in 2013, more than half a million fragments had been detected in orbit around the Earth - and these debris can all travel at over 28, 000 kilometers per hour. Well, not to mention all the satellites that were launched into space: more than 4, 200 in total, of which 1, 149 are still in operation.

But if there is so much buzzing around the Earth right now, how does any of it appear in those beautiful images we see of our planet clicked from space - such as a recent spectacular photo series consisting of the most detailed records that exist from our world and where it is not possible to see even a space debris? Would it be Photoshop's fault? The aliens? Any conspiracy theory? Check out:

Hey ... the space junk is gone?

Where is it?

According to Mary Beth Griggs of the Popular Science portal, space debris does exist and poses an increasing risk to equipment operating around the earth and even to astronauts traveling on space missions. However, none of this appears in the images simply for the sake of perspective.

See, the Earth has a circumference of just over 40, 000 kilometers - and a diameter of just under 12, 800 kilometers - so the junk that's circulating around us is too small to be recorded by the focused equipment. in monitoring and observing our planet.

One of the beautiful photos of our planet recorded by DSCOVR - and no junk or satellite in sight

Incidentally, not even the International Space Station, which is by far the largest orbiting structure at the moment - more than 100 meters across - is visible in the images recorded by the observation satellites. According to Mary, the smallest object that one of these devices (the DSCOVR, for example, which is about 1.6 million kilometers from us) would be able to detect would have to measure between eight and ten kilometers wide!

Not even the International Space Station is recorded by the instruments of Earth observation satellites.

As Mary explained, even satellites that are closer to Earth and equipped with more powerful cameras could not register much with their instruments. Even in the images captured by MODIS itself, which is approximately 700 kilometers away from the surface, it would be difficult to identify the EES - with luck, we would see the structure as a mere bright dot.

Real problem

Returning to the issue of space junk, although it is not visible in satellite imagery - not even in our eyes here on the surface - it does not mean that it is not there and not a problem. According to Mary, most of the fragments are tiny, ranging in size from small slivers of material to that of a baseball, but can potentially cause space damage.

Just imagine the risk!

This is because, as we mentioned earlier, these small pieces of material travel at very high speeds and could cause serious damage. The International Space Station itself needs to be maneuvered from time to time to get out of the way of debris in orbit, and last year one of those wandering fragments hit and damaged one of the structure's windows. Imagine if you had been an astronaut during one of the repair missions!