Satellite and debris characterisation with Adaptive Optics Imaging

摘要

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU) has developed the Adaptive Optics Imaging (AOI) system for satellite and debris characterisation in low Earth orbit (LEO) and satellite tracking in geostationary orbit (GEO). We have demonstrated the capability of the system on-sky by performing an AO correction on a star. With AO correction and using lucky imaging to select only the best frames we achieve a strehl ratio of 27%. The effectiveness of the AO correction is evident when comparing open and closed loop images of Cosmos 1656 in LEO. Features such as panels, satellite body and the antenna can be distinguished in the closed loop image that are not visible when using no AO correction. The angular size of features were measured which allowed for physical dimensions of the satellite to be calculated.