Transcript Satellite Tracking with an 8” Telescope

Satellite Tracking Using a Portable 8”
Aperture Telescope
July 26, 2006
Jayson Nakakura
University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Trex Enterprises’ Maui
 Kahului, Maui
 Mentors
– Riki Maeda and Daron Nishimoto
 US Government Support
– Defense
– Homeland Security
– Force Protection
 Projects
– CMOS Image Sensors
– Adaptive Optics
– Deployable Tracking Systems
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Deployable Tracking System
 Why Track Satellites?
– Need to know satellite activity
 Friendly or Spy?
 What is it doing?
 Where is it looking?
– Quantity
 Many transportable telescopes
 Not dependent on observatories (i.e. AEOS)
 Tracking with Low Residual Error
– Keeping Satellites Centered in the Field of View (FOV) as they orbit
over head
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Conditions for Success
North Finding
Self Leveling
Mobility
GPS Enabled
Deployable Tracking System
High Slew
Speeds
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Accuracy
Resolution
Precise Satellite
Orbiting Data
High Speed
Camera
Large
Mirror
Meade LX200GPS
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8” Aperture
(203 mm)
8 x 50mm Viewfinder
Focus
F = 2000mm
•GPS Alignment System
•True-Level Sensors
•North Electronic Sensors
Slew Rate
8° per second
Autostar II Control System
Satellite Tracker
Satellite Tracker processes Two Line
Element Sets (TLES) to predict satellite
orbits. The telescope uses this data to
point towards and slew with the passing
satellite.
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The predicted pass of
COSMOS 1782
Lunar Planetary Imager (LPI)
Color CMOS Chip with a
640 x 480 pixel resolution
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LPI Imaging
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Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV)
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Albireo
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Albireo - 3x Magnification
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Conditions for Tracking
 Weather
 Terminator
– The time period when satellites reflect sunlight, making them visible
 A few hours after sunset
 A few hours before sunrise
 Satellite Magnitudes
– Visibility of the satellites
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Finding Residual Error
•Take about 100 frames
•Find de-centered distances in arc-seconds
•Calculate average with a standard deviation
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Autostar II
Used for Manual Tracking
Controls telescope
slew speeds
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Controls telescope
slew direction
International Space Station (ISS)
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Tracking a Plane
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Average Residual Error
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Conclusion
Is Satellite Tracking Feasible?
Yes
No
•Able to slew with satellites
•Able to manually track satellites
•Able to image
•Able to manually track planes
•Unable to center when using Satellite Tracker
Improvements?
Satellite Tracker telescope controlling software
Time
 Deployable Tracking System
– With better software, it will successfully track satellites
– With a much larger aperture, it should successfully image satellites
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Thank You
Malika Moutawakkil Bell
Hilary O’Bryan
Lisa Hunter
Riki Maeda
Daron Nishimoto
Wes Friewald
Justin O’Brien
John Hirata
Suzanne Burns
Uncle Kahu Charlie Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr.
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