Initial Observations of the First BlueBird Spacecraft and a Model of Their Brightness
Fuente:
arXiv
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866916728708005888 |
|---|---|
| author | Cole, Richard E. Mallama, Anthony Harrington, Scott Respler, Jay |
| author_facet | Cole, Richard E. Mallama, Anthony Harrington, Scott Respler, Jay |
| contents | Based on a large set of visual observations, the mean apparent magnitude of BlueBird satellites is 3.44, while the mean of magnitudes adjusted to a uniform distance of 1000 km is 3.84. Near zenith the spacecraft can be as bright as magnitude 0.5. While these spacecraft are bright enough to impact astronomical observations, they can for periods be fainter than the BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite. A model for their brightness shows that design changes since the BlueWalker 3 mission can explain the behavior of BlueBird. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_05820 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Initial Observations of the First BlueBird Spacecraft and a Model of Their Brightness Cole, Richard E. Mallama, Anthony Harrington, Scott Respler, Jay Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Instrumentation and Detectors Space Physics Based on a large set of visual observations, the mean apparent magnitude of BlueBird satellites is 3.44, while the mean of magnitudes adjusted to a uniform distance of 1000 km is 3.84. Near zenith the spacecraft can be as bright as magnitude 0.5. While these spacecraft are bright enough to impact astronomical observations, they can for periods be fainter than the BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite. A model for their brightness shows that design changes since the BlueWalker 3 mission can explain the behavior of BlueBird. |
| title | Initial Observations of the First BlueBird Spacecraft and a Model of Their Brightness |
| topic | Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Instrumentation and Detectors Space Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05820 |