Aishling Dignam, NOIRLab
https://doi.org/10.64861/KNGE6211
Keywords: Space Situational Awareness, Optical observations, astronomy, characterization
Abstract:
Space sustainability in the age of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations has become essential to the safety of operations in the near-Earth environment. Within Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA), the crowding of orbits presents a logistical challenge for the sustainability of operations. Outside of these domains, the ever-increasing numbers of satellites is presenting a challenge in astronomical observations, where a clear line of sight to the astrophysical phenomena to be studied is essential, often for hours at a time. Growing numbers of objects in the LEO regime has led to more satellites being captured in images taken by observatories and should be considered an important aspect of space sustainability for all stakeholders. _x000D_
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To investigate the impact of these satellites on observatories, we conducted a series of observation campaigns to intentionally capture satellites with large aperture telescopes. These observations aim to further understand the impact of satellite interference on observatories which, coincidentally, created a framework and pipeline for using these observatories to observe satellites which has potential to be useful in SSA._x000D_
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Here, we investigate observatories at the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National Optical and Infrared Laboratory (NOIRLab) to purposefully take observations of satellites with the astronomical observatories. NOIRLab is a partner in or operator of many of the largest, cutting-edge observatories in the world, including the Gemini Observatory, Cerro Tololo and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Typically, the observations taken at these observatories have the satellites removed from the images in either post-processing, where image quality can be degraded due to this, or the image is discarded as it can no longer be used for scientific investigations. _x000D_
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This paper presents the process by which the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) instrument on the Victor M. Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo and the SMARTS observatory with a 0.9-meter aperture can be used to intentionally observe satellites. Herein, the process for planning and timing the observations is described since it is outside the normal operations for an astronomical observatory and the data products are presented. Although less timely, with this method these observatories can be utilized for SSA observations that may require more specialized data._x000D_
Date of Conference: September 15-18, 2026
Track: Space Domain Awareness