Irkutsk, Russian Federation
Irkutsk, Russian Federation
Launch of several thousands of small spacecraft as part of satellite groups of various companies (OneWeb, SpaceX, etc.) is expected in the coming years. They will significantly increase the “population” in the low-orbit region. The spacecraft are designed mainly to provide telecommunications and remote sensing of Earth from space. They have a short lifetime. The use of high-speed sCMOS (scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) detectors in combination with medium diameter optical telescopes provides high temporal resolution, which allows us to get detailed brightness light curves and to estimate the state of small spacecraft. We present the technique and results of photometric measurements of small spacecraft obtained with the 1.6-meter AZT-33IK telescope of ISTP SB RAS Sayan Solar Observatory. Photometric measurements are shown to be an important source of information at various operational stages of satellites.
small spacecraft, low-Earth orbit, photometry, optical telescope
1. Bessell M.S. Standard photometric systems. Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 2005, vol. 43, pp. 293–336. DOI: 10.1146/ annurev.astro.41.082801.100251.
2. Kamus S.F., Tergoev V.I., Papushev P.G., Druzhinin S.A., Karavaev Y.S., Palachev Y.M., Denisenko S.A., Lipin N.A. Wide range astronomical telescope. Opticheskii zhurnal [J. of Optical Technology]. 2002, vol. 69, no. 9, pp. 84–87. (In Russian).
3. Korobtsev I. V., Mishina M. N. Investigation of photometrical parameters features of space objects over a wide range of phase angles. Ekologicheskii vestnik nauchnykh tsentrov ChES [Ecological bull. of research centers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation]. 2017, vol. 4, iss. 2, pp. 60–66. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31429/vestnik-14-4-2-60-66.
4. Kulikovskiy P.G. Spravochnik lyubitelya astronomii. Izd. 5. [Handbook of amateur astronomy. 5th edition]. Moscow, Editorial URSS Publ., 2002, 688 p. (In Russian).
5. McCue G.A., Williams J.G., Morford J.M. Optical characteristics of artificial satellite. Planetary and Space Sci. 1971, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 851–868. DOI: 10.1016/0032-0633(71)90137-1.
6. Mironov A.V. Osnovy astrofotometrii. Prakticheskie osnovy fotometrii i spektrofotometrii zvezd [Basics of Astrophotometry. Practical Fundamentals of Photometry and Spectrophotometry of Stars]. Moscow, Fizmatlit Publ., 2008, 260 p.
7. Nano/Microsatellite market forecast, 9th Edition (2019). Available at: https://www.spaceworks.aero/wp-content/ uploads/Nano-Microsatellite-Market-Forecast-9th-Edition-2019.pdf (accessed April 22, 2019).
8. Woellert K., Ehrenfreund P., Ricco A.J., Hertzfeld H. Cubesats: cost-effective science and technology platforms for emerging and developing nations. Adv. Space Res. 2011, vol. 47, no. 4, p. 663–684. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2010.10.009.
9. URL: https://www.space-track.org (accessed April 22, 2019).
10. URL: http://ckp-rf.ru/ckp/3056 (accessed April 22, 2019).
