Related papers: Visual Magnitude of the BlueWalker 3 Satellite
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…
The mean apparent magnitude of Starlink Mini Direct-To-Cell (DTC) satellites is 4.62 while the mean of magnitudes adjusted to a uniform distance of 1000 km is 5.50. DTCs average 4.9 times brighter than other Starlink Mini spacecraft at a…
The effect of satellite constellations on observations in the visible and IR domains is estimated, considering 18 constellations in development by SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb, and others, with over 26,000 satellites, constituting a…
The mean apparent magnitude of Starlink Mini Direct-To-Cell (DTC) satellites observed in brightness mitigation mode is 5.16, while the mean of magnitudes adjusted to a uniform distance of 1,000 km is 6.47. The DTCs have faded since early in…
The apparent brightness of satellites is calculated as a function of satellite position as seen by a ground-based observer in darkness. Both direct illumination of the satellite by the Sun as well as indirect illumination due to reflection…
We report initial observations aimed at the characterization of a third interstellar object. This object, 3I/ATLAS or C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), was discovered on 2025 July 1 UT and has an orbital eccentricity of $e\sim6.1$, perihelion of $q\sim…
It has been pointed out that the Galactic satellites all have a common mass around 1e7 Msun within 300 pc (M03), while they span almost four order of magnitudes in luminosity (Mateo et al. 1993, Strigari et al. 2008). It is argued that this…
Artificial satellites orbiting around the Earth, under certain conditions, result to be visible even to the naked eye. The phenomenon of light pollution jeopardises the researching activities of the astronomical community: traces left by…
Optical-electric technology can measure the tangential position and velocity of spacecraft. To know the feasibility of the use of optical-electric technology, it is necessary to estimate the magnitude of spacecraft first. Since the…
Observed magnitudes of Qianfan spacecraft range from 4 when they are near zenith to 8 when low in the sky. Nearly all of the observations can be modeled with a nadir-facing flat antenna panel and the underside of a zenith-facing solar…
Measuring photometric brightness is a common tool for characterizaing satellites. However, characterizing satellite mega-constellations and their impact on astronomy research requires a new approach and methodology. A few measurements of…
We present observations of 23 Starlink satellites in the $g'$ bandpass, obtained from the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory's Plaskett 1.8 metre telescope. The targets include a mixture of satellites with and without brightness mitigation…
To explore capabilities of moderate-size optical telescopes in surveys, the set of 9 new wide-field designs having apertures up to 1 m is considered. All but one systems have angular field of view in a range 3.5-10 degrees and flat focal…
The rapid increase in satellite launches in recent years, and the pressure of launches planned into the next decade, demands an improvement in the efficiency of space domain awareness facilities. Optical facilities form an important…
We revisit the Milky Way satellite problem using a semi-analytical model of galaxy formation and compare the predicted luminosity function to recent result from the SDSS. With cosmic photoionization, the luminosity function can be brought…
3I/ATLAS was discovered on UT 2025 July 1 and joins a limited but growing population of detected $\sim10^2-10^3$ m scale interstellar objects. In this paper we report photometric observations of 3I/ATLAS from the nights of UT 2025 July 3,…
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…
Voyager 3 is a concept mission that sends a space telescope to the interstellar medium in a reasonable amount of time. Voyager 3 would take a direct image of an exoplanet using the solar gravitational lensing at the distance of 550…
We study the apparent optical brightness of satellite streaks in ground-based observatory cameras as the orbit height is varied. This is done via simulations. Several factors are in play: the range to the satellite, satellite size and…
On large telescopes trails of MegaConstellation's satellites will appears significantly defocused because of their relatively short distance. Because of such effect their apparent surface brightness will be, under a range of conditions,…