Near-Simultaneous Observations of a Geosynchronous Satellite Using Two Telescopes and Multiple Optical Filters

Over the past 10 years, cadets and faculty in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) have conducted research on non-resolved satellite characterization using small, ground-based optical telescopes located on campus and around the world as a part of the Falcon Telescope Network (FTN). The on-campus telescope is a DFM Engineering f/8.2, 0.4-meter Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, while the FTN telescopes are Officina Stellare ProRC-500, f/8, 0.5-meter telescopes. The imaging camera for the 0.4-meter telescope is an Apogee Alta U47; whereas, the FTN telescopes use an Apogee Alta F47. Both camera models have a 1024 × 1024 focal plane array with 13 μm pixel pitch. Additionally, all telescopes are outfitted with an Apogee 9-position filter wheel (model AFW50-9R) populated with several common filters: Johnson-Cousins B, V, R photometric filters and a Richardson 100-lines-per-millimeter diffraction grating. The filter wheel on the 0.4-meter telescope also has four linear polarization filters oriented at 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° relative to the vertical axis of the U47 imaging camera. Our previous observational campaigns focused on measuring one type of optical signature (e.g. only photometry, spectroscopy, or polarimetry) from a single telescope. This paper presents preliminary measurements of multi-optical data on a single geosynchronous satellite observed near-simultaneously from two telescopes and compares and contrast features seen in the three optical signatures.