William Dawson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Michael D. Schneider, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Chandrika Kamath, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Keywords: low surface brightness, detection, streak, LEO, GEO, maximum likelihood
Abstract:
We have developed a maximum likelihood source detection method capable of detecting ultra-faint streaks with surface brightnesses approximately an order of magnitude fainter than the pixel level noise. Our maximum likelihood detection method is a model based approach that requires no a priori knowledge about the streak location, orientation, length, or surface brightness. This method enables discovery of typically undiscovered objects, and enables the utilization of low-cost sensors (i.e., higher-noise data). The method also easily facilitates multi-epoch co-addition. We will present the results from the application of this method to simulations, as well as real low earth orbit observations.
Date of Conference: September 20-23, 2016
Track: Poster