The use of astronomical data for satellite tracking

TL;DR

This paper investigates how astronomical observations can be utilized for tracking and identifying artificial satellites, addressing challenges caused by spacecraft streaks in astronomical images and comparing observational data with satellite databases.

Contribution

It introduces a method to estimate the usefulness of astronomical data for satellite monitoring and orbital parameter deduction, using real observational data and software analysis.

Findings

Astronomical data can aid in satellite identification and tracking.

Comparison with satellite databases shows promising results.

The approach benefits space weather research.

Abstract

The study explored the usage of astronomical observations for the identification and tracking of artificial satellites. Spacecraft streaks on astronomical images are a growing issue for the astronomical community. The increasing number of satellites in the future will only worsen the situation for ground-based optical and radio observations of cosmic objects. In addition, the spacecraft passages often lead to the discarding of the obtained data. In this analysis, we propose an estimation of the usefulness of dedicated astronomical observation for spacecraft monitoring, identification, and deduction of orbital parameters. We use astronomical data from the Astronomical Observatory Meshtitsa (Bulgaria) and the https://www.tycho-tracker.com/ software for the streak analysis. The results are compared with well-known satellite databases, such as https://celestrak.org/. The findings are discussed in the framework of space weather research.