Impact of Satellite Constellations on Observations with the 80-cm Telescope and the Mini-SiTian at the Xinglong Observatory, NAOC

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ren, Jing, Fan, Zhou, Gu, Hong-rui, Zhang, Qi-qian, Xu, Yun-fei, Du, Jun-ju, Chen, Xiao-han, Mi, Lin-ying, Wu, Hong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ren, Jing
Fan, Zhou
Gu, Hong-rui
Zhang, Qi-qian
Xu, Yun-fei
Du, Jun-ju
Chen, Xiao-han
Mi, Lin-ying
Wu, Hong
author_facet Ren, Jing
Fan, Zhou
Gu, Hong-rui
Zhang, Qi-qian
Xu, Yun-fei
Du, Jun-ju
Chen, Xiao-han
Mi, Lin-ying
Wu, Hong
contents The rapid development of mega-constellations in low Earth orbit (LEO) severely impacts ground-based optical astronomical observations. By combining WorldWide Telescope (WWT) simulations with 2019 and 2023 observational data from the Xinglong Observatory 80-cm telescope and 2023 data from the Mini-SiTian (MST), we find that satellite visibility increases with deployment, particularly during the summer. For the 80-cm telescope, the fraction of images containing satellite trails increased from an average of 0.34% in 2019 to 0.7% in 2023; meanwhile, for the MST in 2023, the fraction rose from 5% in January to 12% by December, peaking at 19% in the summer. Through stratified analysis of solar elevation and local time, we find that observations during twilight and summer are particularly susceptible to satellite trail interference. Photometric analysis reveals that the interference intensity increases for fainter sources and those closer to the trails. Furthermore, a comparative analysis across different seeing conditions shows that the deviation of median standardized residuals (σ) is significantly greater under poor seeing than under good seeing conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_17948
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Impact of Satellite Constellations on Observations with the 80-cm Telescope and the Mini-SiTian at the Xinglong Observatory, NAOC
Ren, Jing
Fan, Zhou
Gu, Hong-rui
Zhang, Qi-qian
Xu, Yun-fei
Du, Jun-ju
Chen, Xiao-han
Mi, Lin-ying
Wu, Hong
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The rapid development of mega-constellations in low Earth orbit (LEO) severely impacts ground-based optical astronomical observations. By combining WorldWide Telescope (WWT) simulations with 2019 and 2023 observational data from the Xinglong Observatory 80-cm telescope and 2023 data from the Mini-SiTian (MST), we find that satellite visibility increases with deployment, particularly during the summer. For the 80-cm telescope, the fraction of images containing satellite trails increased from an average of 0.34% in 2019 to 0.7% in 2023; meanwhile, for the MST in 2023, the fraction rose from 5% in January to 12% by December, peaking at 19% in the summer. Through stratified analysis of solar elevation and local time, we find that observations during twilight and summer are particularly susceptible to satellite trail interference. Photometric analysis reveals that the interference intensity increases for fainter sources and those closer to the trails. Furthermore, a comparative analysis across different seeing conditions shows that the deviation of median standardized residuals (σ) is significantly greater under poor seeing than under good seeing conditions.
title Impact of Satellite Constellations on Observations with the 80-cm Telescope and the Mini-SiTian at the Xinglong Observatory, NAOC
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.17948