Adaptive Optics for Satellite and Debris Imaging in LEO and GEO

The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University has developed and Adaptive Optics (AO) system for satellite and debris imaging in low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbit (GEO). In LEO the size, shape and orientation of objects will be measured with resolution of 50 cm for objects at 800 km range at an 800 nm imaging wavelength. In GEO satellite position will be measured using precision astrometry of nearby stars. We use an AO system with a deformable mirror (DM) of 277 actuators and Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor operating at 2 kHz. Imaging is performed at a rate of >30 Hz to reduce image blur due to tip-tilt and rotation. We use two imaging modes; a high resolution mode to obtain Nyquist sampled images and a acquisition mode with 75 arcsecond field of view to aid in finding targets.