Related papers: Mitigation of LEO Satellite Brightness and Trail E…
In August 2025 a workshop was convened to bring together experts to better understand steps that can be taken to mitigate the impact of satellite constellations on astronomical observations. At the time, just over 12,000 operational…
Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEOsat) mega-constellations are considered to be an unavoidable source of contamination for survey observations to be carried out by the China Space Station Telescope (CSST) over the next decade. This study…
Starlink is a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operated by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) which aims to provide global satellite internet access. Thus far, most photometric observations of Starlink satellites…
We investigate a novel satellite avoidance strategy to mitigate the impact of large commercial satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). We simulate the orbits of…
Using Hyper Suprime Camera data (a precursor of what is to come with Rubin Observatory) we assess trail masking mitigation strategies for satellite contamination. We examine HSC data of the Hubble COSMOS field where satellite trails have…
We examine the simple model put forth in a recent note by Loeb regarding the brightness of space debris in the size range of 1-10 cm and their impact on the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) transient object searches.…
We report a simulation and quantification of the impact of the Starlink constellation on LSST in terms of the trail surface brightness using a BRDF-based satellite photometric model. A total of 11,908 satellites from the Gen1 and Gen2A…
The new Starlink V2 satellites incorporate improvements to the chassis brightness through dielectric mirrors, off-pointing solar arrays, and black paint on exposed components. For the general case in which the reflectivities are initially…
The number of artificial satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is increasing at an exponential rate since 2019. Satellites are visible to both ground and space telescopes, and their bright emission in optical, infrared, and radio-wavelengths…
Observations of Starlink V2 Mini satellites during orbit-raising suggest that SpaceX applies brightness mitigation when they reach a height of 357 km. The mean apparent magnitudes for objects below that height threshold is 2.68 while the…
The Steward Observatory LEO Satellite Photometric Survey is a comprehensive observational survey to characterize the apparent brightness of the Starlink and OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites and evaluate the potential impact on astronomy.…
The impact of large-scale constellations of satellites, is a concern for ground-based astronomers. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of satellites in Low-Earth Orbit and this trend is set to continue. The…
Four observations of Starlink's LEO communication satellites, Darksat and STARLINK-1113, were conducted on two nights with two telescopes. The Chakana 0.6\,m telescope at the Ckoirama observatory (Chile) observed both satellites on…
The mean of 830 visual magnitudes adjusted to a distance of 550 km (the operational altitude) is 4.63 +/-0.02. The data on DarkSat, the low-albedo satellite, indicate that it is fainter than the others by 1.6 magnitudes or 78%. However,…
Measure the Sloan g' magnitudes of the Starlink's STARLINK-1130 (Darksat) and 1113 LEO communication satellites and determine the effectiveness of the Darksat darkening treatment at 475.4\,nm. Two observations of the Starlink's Darksat LEO…
There is a growing concern about an impact of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellations on ground-based astronomical observations, in particular, on wide-field surveys in the optical and infrared. The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF),…
Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be a key facility for small body science in planetary astronomy over the next decade. It will carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), observing the sky repeatedly in u, g, r, i, z, and y over the…
The rapid development of mega-constellations in low Earth orbit (LEO) severely impacts ground-based optical astronomical observations. By combining WorldWide Telescope (WWT) simulations with 2019 and 2023 observational data from the…
I discuss the current low Earth orbit artificial satellite population and show that the proposed `megaconstellation' of circa 12,000 Starlink internet satellites would dominate the lower part of Earth orbit, below 600 km, with a…
This study evaluates the effect of proposed constellations -- ranging from current deployments to mega-constellations and very bright reflector concepts -- on direct trail losses, diffuse background, and scattered sky brightness. We use a…