Back in the 1980s the passage overhead of satellites was relatively rare, and amateur observer books were published about the topic. It was a matter of public interest, so much so that the weather prediction in the Guardian newspaper would list a few predicted satellites per day.

How things have changed:

The summary: astronomers spent a lot of time asking SpaceX and other large satellite operators to pretty please make their satellites fainter and/or use fewer satellites. And then BlueWalker 3 was launched by some tiny company and is one of the brightest things in the sky. Asking nicely isn’t working: international regulation and pollution penalties are needed.

https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/111460548766931530

Links onwards to https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03610-5, paywalled, but the toot promises to supply a version if possible.