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Near-Simultaneous Observations of a Geosynchronous Satellite Using Two Telescopes and Multiple Optical Filters

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Abstract

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.

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Notes

  1. Even though counts per second is not flux, we are using the term “flux” to refer to counts per second.

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Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge the support of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and acknowledge Lt Col Jake Harley in the Department of Physics (USAFA) for valuable discussions pertaining to spectral calibration. We also want to acknowledge Cadet Third Class Blake Eastman for calculating the longitudinal phase angle reported in Table 4. This paper is the result of three senior capstone projects and three independent studies during the 2020-2021 academic year by cadets in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy. The authors thank the reviewers for their comments and recommendations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, 80840, USA

    Ethan M. Albrecht, Audra M. Jensen, Erik G. Jensen, Kody A. Wilson, Michael K. Plummer, Joshua A. Key, Daniel S. O’Keefe & Francis K. Chun

  2. Strong EO Imaging, Inc, Colorado Springs, CO, 80908, USA

    David M. Strong

  3. Millennium Engineering & Integration Co, Colorado Springs, CO, 80919, USA

    Casey P. Schuetz-Christy

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  1. Ethan M. Albrecht
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Correspondence to Joshua A. Key.

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Albrecht, E.M., Jensen, A.M., Jensen, E.G. et al. Near-Simultaneous Observations of a Geosynchronous Satellite Using Two Telescopes and Multiple Optical Filters. J Astronaut Sci 69, 120–138 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-021-00292-x

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