The Skygrid Project - A Calibration Star Catalogue for DoD Sensors
Abstract
New sensor programs for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) are coming on line in the near future. In order to increase the efficiency and utility of such sensors, it is important to extend existing catalogs of calibration stars so that, ultimately, there is at least one calibration star in each field of view (FOV). (The targeted FOV in our planning is 1 square degree.) If this situation were enabled, then high-cost sensors would become significantly more efficient by not having to slew to standard fields in which there are no high priority targets of interest; the necessary calibrations could be done by observations of stars in each target frame. Collection efficiency would therefore be enhanced by this program.
We offer three phases in this Plan. They are intended provide a logical progression toward the expressed goal of one calibrationstar per FOV. Phase I has a duration of one year and will produce a catalog of stars lying near the Celestial Equator (therefore observable at any time of the year from any location on Earth or in orbit). This catalog will extend the Landolt calibration stars to the SILC 415, SILC 590, and Clear filters. (The original catalog consists of Johnson B, V, R, and I observations.) The brightness measures will be accurate to about ±0.03 magnitude. Phases II and III will require multi-year collections. In Phase II we will complete observations in a 20 degree wide swath along the equator (about 7,200 square degrees). In Phase III, we will extend the observations across the whole sky.- Publication:
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The Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference
- Pub Date:
- 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006amos.confE..91G