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Title: |
Photometric Studies of Orbital Debris at GEO
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Author(s): |
Seitzer, Patrick; Abercromby, Kira J.; Rodriguez-Cowardin, Heather M.; Barker, Ed; Foreman, Gary; Horstman, Matt
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Abstract: |
We report on optical observations of debris at geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) using two telescopes simultaneously at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. The University of Michigan s 0.6/0.9-m Schmidt telescope MODEST (for Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope) was used in survey mode to find objects that potentially could be at GEO. Because GEO objects only appear in this telescope s field of view for an average of 5 minutes, a full six-parameter orbit can not be determined. Interrupting the survey for follow-up observations leads to incompleteness in the survey results. Instead, as objects are detected with MODEST, initial predictions assuming a circular orbit are done for where the object will be for the next hour, and the objects are reacquired as quickly as possible on the CTIO 0.9-m telescope. This second telescope follows-up during the first night and, if possible, over several more nights to obtain the maximum time arc possible, and the best six parameter orbit. Our goal is to obtain an initial orbit and calibrated colors for all detected objects fainter than R = 15th in order to estimate the orbital distribution of objects selected on the basis of two observational criteria: magnitude and angular rate. One objective is to estimate what fraction of objects selected on the basis of angular rate are not at GEO. A second objective is to obtain magnitudes and colors in standard astronomical filters (BVRI) for comparison with reflectance spectra of likely spacecraft materials.
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NASA Center: |
Johnson Space Center
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Publication Date: |
January 2009
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Document Source: |
CASI |
No Digital Version Available: |
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Document ID: |
20090001317
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Publication Information: |
Number of Pages = 2 |
Price Code: |
A01 |
Meeting Information: |
5th European Conference on Space Debris, 30 Mar. - 2 Apr. 2009, Darmstadt, Germany |
Keywords: |
GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBITS; SCHMIDT TELESCOPES; VISUAL OBSERVATION; FIELD OF VIEW; SPACE DEBRIS; CIRCULAR ORBITS; ASTRONOMY; SURVEYS; MAGNITUDE;
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Accessibility: |
Unclassified; Copyright; Unlimited; Publicly available; |
Updated/Added to NTRS: |
2009-01-15 |
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