The high optical brightness of the BlueWalker 3 satellite

Sangeetha Nandakumar, Siegfried Eggl, Jeremy Tregloan-Reed, Christian Adam, Jasmine Anderson-Baldwin, Michele T. Bannister, Adam Battle, Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Tanner Campbell, J. P. Colque, Guillermo Damke, Ilse Plauchu Frayn, Mourad Ghachoui, Pedro F. Guillen, Aziz Ettahar Kaeouach, Harrison R. Krantz, Marco Langbroek, Nicholas Rattenbury, Vishnu Reddy, Ryan Ridden-HarperBrad Young, Eduardo Unda-Sanzana, Alan M. Watson, Constance E. Walker, John C. Barentine, Piero Benvenuti, Federico Di Vruno, Mike W. Peel, Meredith L. Rawls, Cees Bassa, Catalina Flores-Quintana, Pablo García, Sam Kim, Penélope Longa-Peña, Edgar Ortiz, Ángel Otarola, María Romero-Colmenares, Pedro Sanhueza, Giorgio Siringo, Mario Soto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Large constellations of bright artificial satellites in low Earth orbit pose significant challenges to ground-based astronomy1. Current orbiting constellation satellites have brightnesses between apparent magnitudes 4 and 6, whereas in the near-infrared Ks band, they can reach magnitude 2 (ref. 2). Satellite operators, astronomers and other users of the night sky are working on brightness mitigation strategies3,4. Radio emissions induce further potential risk to ground-based radio telescopes that also need to be evaluated. Here we report the outcome of an international optical observation campaign of a prototype constellation satellite, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3. BlueWalker 3 features a 64.3 m2 phased-array antenna as well as a launch vehicle adaptor (LVA)5. The peak brightness of the satellite reached an apparent magnitude of 0.4. This made the new satellite one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Additionally, the LVA reached an apparent V-band magnitude of 5.5, four times brighter than the current International Astronomical Union recommendation of magnitude 7 (refs. 3,6); it jettisoned on 10 November 2022 (Universal Time), and its orbital ephemeris was not publicly released until 4 days later. The expected build-out of constellations with hundreds of thousands of new bright objects1 will make active satellite tracking and avoidance strategies a necessity for ground-based telescopes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)938-941
Number of pages4
JournalNature
Volume623
Issue number7989
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 30 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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