36th Annual Student Research Conference
Satellite Megaswarm predictions and observations
Mohammadhossein Momeni
Dr. Vayujeet Gokhale, Faculty Mentor
The dramatic increase in the number of artificial satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) poses an existential threat to terrestrial professional and recreational astronomy. Currently, there are only a few thousand satellites in LEO around Earth, but this number is increasing rapidly. The International Telecommunication Union and national regulatory filings indicate that more than 100,000 satellites could be launched into LEO in the coming decade. To analyze the effects of these satellites, we review publicly available numerical codes that predict and characterize satellite passes. In particular, we report on the capabilities of three such codes: AstroSat, StarlinkPassPredictor, and Passpredict. We modify and adapt these codes to obtain a list of all visible satellites throughout the night, their brightness, and so on. This information can be used by astronomers to plan their observation runs and prevent these satellite trails from contaminating their science images.
Keywords: Satellites, Mega Constellations, light pollution, Starlink
Topic(s):Astronomy
Computer Science
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 310-5
Location: MG 1096
Time: 2:15