Visual Brightness Characteristics of Starlink Generation 1 Satellites

A large dataset of visual magnitudes for all three designs of Starlink satellites is analyzed. Brightness phase functions are derived for the Original, VisorSat and Post-VisorSat models.

Similarities and differences between the functions for these spacecraft are noted. A metric called the characteristic magnitude is defined as the average brightness of a satellite when seen overhead at the end of astronomical twilight.

When the phase functions are evaluated according to this metric, the characteristic magnitudes are: Original, 4.7; VisorSat, 6.2; and Post-VisorSat, 5.5.

Anthony Mallama, Jay Respler

Subjects: Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2210.17268 [astro-ph.IM] (or arXiv:2210.17268v1 [astro-ph.IM] for this version)
Submission history
From: Anthony Mallama
[v1] Mon, 31 Oct 2022 12:51:46 UTC (1,075 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.17268