Orbital parameters for objects observed by the Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope (MODEST)
- Paper number
IAC-05-B6.1.05
- Author
Dr. Kira Abercromby, ESCG/Jacobs Sverdrup, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Ed Barker, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center, United States
- Coauthor
Ms. Kandy Jarvis, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Mark J. Matney, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Patrick Seitzer, University of Michigan, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Eugene Stansbery, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
An optical survey for orbital debris at geosynchronous orbit has been conducted with the University of Michigan's 0.6/0.9-m Schmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The project termed MODEST (Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope) has been collecting data since 2002. Included in this paper are 66 days of observation from calendar years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, which yield 100 different field locations. Combining all four years of data, MODEST observed 1014 correlated targets (unique per night) and 401 uncorrelated targets (unique per night). This paper will discuss the orbital parameters determined for correlated and uncorrelated objects based on a circular orbit assumption fit to four to nine observed positions. Differences or errors between orbital parameters determined from the assumption of circular orbits compared to catalog values for correlated targets will be presented. The standard deviation in inclination for all correlated targets is 0.78 degrees. The standard deviation for right accession in ascending node (RAAN) is 2.4 degrees. In addition to the orbital parameters, calculations of visual and absolute magnitude have been made. The correlated targets absolute magnitude peak is near 11 and the uncorrelated targets absolute magnitude peak is near 16-17. The falloff in sensitivity of the telescope keeps the absolute magnitude peak of the uncorrelated targets from being identified accurately. Depending on the pointing of the telescope, the possible orbital planes in which an object resides will be shown. The coverage is nearing completion but is still missing one segment from five degrees inclination through 30 degrees within the RAAN ranges of 250 – 300 degrees. A description of the orbits which were calculated within the possible orbital planes will be addressed.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-B6.1.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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