Analysis of Faint Glints from Stabilized GEO Satellites
Abstract
Ground-based telescopes routinely acquire temporal brightness measurements of satellites in geo-stationary and geosynchronous orbit that provide valuable characterization information. For instance, GEO satellites that are not stabilized tend to rotate, and produce brightnesses that vary in time with frequencies corresponding to rotation rates. Temporal brightness patterns can also be exploited to characterize stabilized GEO satellites. For example, many operational GEO satellites have solar panels that glint when they reflect sunlight towards an observer in a mirrorlike fashion. These well-known solar panel glints can be remarkably bright, often exceeding several stellar magnitudes in amplitude. Measured brightnesses and times of these glints can be exploited to estimate the size, segmentation, and alignment of the solar array, valuable information about the satellite's power generation and consumption capabilities. However, satellites can produce other glints in addition to those originating from solar panels. These glints can be much fainter, with amplitudes as small as 0.2 magnitudes. Several observations of GEO satellites show several such glints occurring during the span of a single night. Furthermore, many of these recur from night to night when observed from a single ground-based site, but with subtle, incremental changes in both peak times and brightnesses. These fainter glints must originate from reflective elements mounted on the satellite s main bus, solar panel structure, or other peripheral structures that might be stationary or moving with respect to the main bus. Our analysis indicates that such glints can be exploited for GEO satellite characterization.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA593369
Entities
People
- Doyle Hall
- Paul Kervin
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory