The high optical brightness of the BlueWalker 3 satellite.
| Title: | The high optical brightness of the BlueWalker 3 satellite. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Nandakumar S; Instituto de Investigación en Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile. an.sangeetha@gmail.com.; Eggl S; Department of Aerospace Engineering/Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA. eggl@illinois.edu.; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France. eggl@illinois.edu.; Tregloan-Reed J; Instituto de Investigación en Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile. jeremy.tregloan-reed@uda.cl.; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France. jeremy.tregloan-reed@uda.cl.; Adam C; Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.; Anderson-Baldwin J; The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.; Bannister MT; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; School of Physical and Chemical Sciences Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.; Battle A; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Benkhaldoun Z; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, FSSM, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco.; Campbell T; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Colque JP; Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.; Damke G; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; NSFs NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Plauchu Frayn I; Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxic, Ensenada, Mexico.; Ghachoui M; Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, FSSM, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco.; Guillen PF; Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxic, Ensenada, Mexico.; Kaeouach AE; High Atlas Observatory, Oukaimeden Observatory, Oukaimeden, Morocco.; Krantz HR; University of Arizona Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Langbroek M; Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft Technical University, Delft, The Netherlands.; Rattenbury N; The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.; Reddy V; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Ridden-Harper R; School of Physical and Chemical Sciences Te Kura Matū, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.; Young B; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Unda-Sanzana E; Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.; Watson AM; Instituto de Astronomıía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.; Walker CE; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; NSFs NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Barentine JC; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Dark Sky Consulting, LLC, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Consortium for Dark Sky Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.; Benvenuti P; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Department of Astronomy, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.; Di Vruno F; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; SKA Observatory, Jodrell Bank, Macclesfield, UK.; Peel MW; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Instituto de Astrofı́sica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain.; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain.; Imperial College London, London, UK.; Rawls ML; IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, Paris, France.; Department of Astronomy/DiRAC/Vera C. Rubin Observatory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.; Bassa C; ASTRON Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.; Flores-Quintana C; Instituto de Astrofísica, Universidad Andrés Bello, Santiago, Chile.; Instituto Milenio de Astrofísica MAS, Santiago, Chile.; García P; Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile.; Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing, China.; Kim S; Astro-Engineering Center (AIUC), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.; Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany.; Longa-Peña P; Centro de Astronomía (CITEVA), Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile.; Ortiz E; Chilean Low Earth Orbit satellite (CLEOsat) Group, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile.; Otarola Á; European Southern Observatory (Chile) Alonso de Córdova, Vitacura, Chile.; Romero-Colmenares M; Instituto de Investigación en Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile.; Sanhueza P; NSFs NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA.; Siringo G; European Southern Observatory (Chile) Alonso de Córdova, Vitacura, Chile.; Joint ALMA Observatory, Alonso de Córdova, Vitacura, Chile.; Soto M; Instituto de Investigación en Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama, Copiapó, Chile. |
| Source: | Nature [Nature] 2023 Nov; Vol. 623 (7989), pp. 938-941. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 02. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0410462 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-4687 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00280836 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nature Subsets: MEDLINE; PubMed not MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Basingstoke : Nature Publishing Group; Original Publication: London, Macmillan Journals ltd. |
| Abstract: | Large constellations of bright artificial satellites in low Earth orbit pose significant challenges to ground-based astronomy1. Current orbiting constellation satellites have brightnesses between apparent magnitudes 4 and 6, whereas in the near-infrared Ks band, they can reach magnitude 2 (ref. 2). Satellite operators, astronomers and other users of the night sky are working on brightness mitigation strategies3,4. Radio emissions induce further potential risk to ground-based radio telescopes that also need to be evaluated. Here we report the outcome of an international optical observation campaign of a prototype constellation satellite, AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3. BlueWalker 3 features a 64.3 m2 phased-array antenna as well as a launch vehicle adaptor (LVA)5. The peak brightness of the satellite reached an apparent magnitude of 0.4. This made the new satellite one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Additionally, the LVA reached an apparent V-band magnitude of 5.5, four times brighter than the current International Astronomical Union recommendation of magnitude 7 (refs. 3,6); it jettisoned on 10 November 2022 (Universal Time), and its orbital ephemeris was not publicly released until 4 days later. The expected build-out of constellations with hundreds of thousands of new bright objects1 will make active satellite tracking and avoidance strategies a necessity for ground-based telescopes.; (© 2023. The Author(s).) |
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| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20231002 Date Completed: 20231201 Latest Revision: 20231205 |
| Update Code: | 20260130 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC10686822 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-023-06672-7 |
| PMID: | 37783227 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article