2019/10/24 by Singh, Toyaj
#Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1910.10847
Aperture photometry was performed on images (from the SuperWASP instrument) of the 19.2^∘E geostationary Astras satellite constellation over 5 nights to form light curves and predict model and movement parameters of the satellites. The 1KR satellite is observed to have two peaks, 90^∘ out of phase indicating rotating wings, while satellite 1M is predicted to have shadowing due to dips in its light curve or a single wing design due to a single major peak. All satellites have peak magnitudes at the minimum sun phase angle 28^∘ as expected. The developed methods and results serve a precursor to developing methods to address the ultimate goal of geostationary debris profiling.