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Astrometric Accuracy of the ROO Telescope for GEO Objects

Presented by:

Kevin Yang

Kevin Yang

RMIT University

 

Brett Carter

RMIT University

 

Steve Gehly

TU Delft

 

The number of objects in Earth orbit has increased dramatically, especially in recent years and is expected to continue to increase. Currently there are over 25,000 objects larger than 10cm, including both functional and defunct satellites, as well as debris. Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is therefore becoming increasingly important to keep track of these objects for purposes such as conjunction assessment so that collisions can be avoided. However due to the sheer number of objects, it has become harder and harder to keep track of all of them as the number of available sensors is relatively small and collaboration between existing sensors has been limited. Therefore, to support SSA research, RMIT University has built an optical observatory known as the ROO (Robotic Optical Observatory), which is a 0.4m optical telescope primarily used to track and monitor objects in Earth orbit. The purpose of this study was to determine the astrometric accuracy of the telescope. This was done by tracking and imaging the Japanese QZSS satellites and determining their angles relative to the background stars, and then comparing them with the coordinates reported by their ephemerides. Initial results indicate accuracies of around 10-15 arcseconds, which is about 10 times worse than what other research institutions have been achieving. Timing has been investigated as a potential source of error, however results suggest that timing is not the primary cause. Further research will investigate whether other factors are negatively affecting the accuracy.

Category:

SSA

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