Starlink satellites brightness reduction

[Nick James]

This is an interesting read:

https://www.spacex.com/news/2020/04/28/starlink-update

It describes some of the aspects that affect the brightness of the Starlink satellites at various phases of their mission and the mitigation techniques being adoped by SpaceX.

[Neil Morrison]

Interesting read. Pity  that Space X did not think before they went  charging ahead  and  had the  fore site to consult  with others that operate in  the Space/ Astronomy  field. It would not only have been appropriate but good manners as well.  We can only wait and see  what  transpires  and hope  for  the best but fear the  worst. 

[Jeremy Shears]

A paper on Visual Brightness Characteristics of Starlink Generation 1 Satellites based on visual mags measured for the satellites is available here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.17268

They show that adding the sunshades to the VisorSats can reduce brightness, this is phase angle dependent. The upshot is that VisorSats tend to be fainter than original satellites when near zenith and brighter when they are low in the sky and their azimuth is toward or away from the Sun. More recently, however, the satellites have not had these shades. The phase function for these Post-VisorSat spacecraft is intermediate between those of original and VisorSat.

The authors point out that in coming years Generation 2 satellites will be launched which are expected to be larger and possibly brighter.

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