Side Effects of Space Debris on Astronomical Observation

Abstract

Astronomical research continues to use ground-based facilities as a principal means of gathering data. The optical light buckets which are trained each night on celestial sources have historically had to just contend with natural interference. Sunlight, moonlight, clouds, debris created by volcanic eruptions, atmospheric seeing, and aurora are examples of factors which modify the interception and analysis of energy radiated in the optical spectrum and received at the collector end. In the last 5 years the “unnatural” encounters with artificial earth satellites are making themselves more pronounced and have become the subject of this limited study.