IAU-CPS Satellite Observation Project

[Callum Potter]

This message from Jim Verner of the IAU-CPS Community Engagement Hub may be of interest to members:

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I am currently involved in developing a citizen science style project within the IAU-CPS.
The goal of the project is twofold; 1, to gather data on satellite brightness and build a more complete picture of satellite impacts on astronomy by adding vital information to the SCORE database, and 2, to raise awareness of the growing impact of satellite constellations in low earth orbit.

There is of course a lot more detail to the project, however I don’t want to take up your time with lots of detail at this point.
In short, we currently have a draft ‘manual’ to the project completed, and we are looking to recruit a small initial cohort of volunteers to ‘road test’ the project for us.
Once we have completed the trials, we hope to go ‘live’ with the project around November / December ’25.

We are currently reaching out to astronomy organisations, canvasing support for and involvement in the project.
Proliferation of satellites in LEO is an increasing issue to astronomy and one that is set to get much worse over the next decade, yet it is a subject that is rarely discussed. It is our hope that we can raise awareness and provide a way for non-professional astronomy to get involved, contributing to a valuable database that has a vital role in discussions with satellite operators and development of methods to mitigate LEO satellite impacts on astronomy.

To follow this up, please drop me an email or give me a call, I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Jim

Jim Verner
IAU-CPS Community Engagement Hub

Direct email: jim@verners.co.uk

[Jim Verner]

Thank you to the BAA for sharing our project.
Anyone interested in finding out more about this project can email me direct at jim@verners.co.uk or through this forum.

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