Over the past 10 years, cadets and faculty in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) have conducted research on non-resolved satellite characterization using small, ground-based optical telescopes located on campus and around the world as a part of the Falcon Telescope Network (FTN). The on-campus telescope is a DFM Engineering f/8.2, 0.4-meter Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, while the FTN telescopes are Officina Stellare ProRC-500, f/8, 0.5-meter telescopes. The imaging camera for the 0.4-meter telescope is an Apogee Alta U47; whereas, the FTN telescopes use an Apogee Alta F47. Both camera models have a 1024 × 1024 focal plane array with 13 μm pixel pitch. Additionally, all telescopes are outfitted with an Apogee 9-position filter wheel (model AFW50-9R) populated with several common filters: Johnson-Cousins B, V, R photometric filters and a Richardson 100-lines-per-millimeter diffraction grating. The filter wheel on the 0.4-meter telescope also has four linear polarization filters oriented at 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° relative to the vertical axis of the U47 imaging camera. Our previous observational campaigns focused on measuring one type of optical signature (e.g. only photometry, spectroscopy, or polarimetry) from a single telescope. This paper presents preliminary measurements of multi-optical data on a single geosynchronous satellite observed near-simultaneously from two telescopes and compares and contrast features seen in the three optical signatures.
Near-Simultaneous Observations of a Geosynchronous Satellite Using Two Telescopes and Multiple Optical Filters
J Astronaut Sci
The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences ; 69 , 1 ; 120-138
2022-02-01
19 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Space domain awareness , Geosynchronous satellites , Polarization , Stokes parameters , Slitless Spectroscopy , Photometry , Near-simultaneous imagery , Non-resolved imagery Engineering , Aerospace Technology and Astronautics , Mathematical Applications in the Physical Sciences , Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics)
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