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Starlink Mini Satellite Brightness Distributions Across the Sky

Authors :
Mallama, Anthony
Cole, Richard E.
Respler, Jay
Bassa, Cees
Harrington, Scott
Worley, Aaron
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

The illumination phase functions for Starlink Mini satellites are determined for times of twilight and darkness. Those functions are then evaluated to give apparent magnitudes over a grid of points across the sky and over a range of solar angles below the horizon. Sky maps and a table of satellite magnitude distributions are presented. The largest areas of sky with satellites brighter than magnitudes 6 and 7 both occur during twilight. Brightness surges, known as flares, are also characterized.

Details

Database :
arXiv
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.2401.01546
Document Type :
Working Paper