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Skylon

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Set to right before talk.

 

They are working with Berkeley on using an objective mirror that already exists for a ground telescope as a SS launched space telescope—several meter dia objective.

(7-8m, Webb is 6.5m)

Edited by tater
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1 hour ago, tater said:

They are working with Berkeley on using an objective mirror that already exists for a ground telescope as a SS launched space telescope—several meter dia objective.

(7-8m, Webb is 6.5m)

Here is the intrusive thought I keep experiencing wrt space telescopes:  Take the origami JWST design, folded up, and scale it up to fill SS cargo bay.  How big would that mirror be unfolded?  How many more bands could have supporting sensors on this bigger version given 150mt payload availability and existing sensors wouldn't be scaled up with mirrors, chassis, etc

Edited by darthgently
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56 minutes ago, darthgently said:

Here is the intrusive thought I keep experiencing wrt space telescopes:  Take the origami JWST design, folded up, and scale it up to fill SS cargo bay.  How big would that mirror be unfolded?  How many more bands could have supporting sensors on this bigger version given 150mt payload availability and existing sensors wouldn't be scaled up with mirrors, chassis, etc

 

Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor - Wikipedia

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2 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said:

EDIT:  grrr, how come I can't attach a photo? What it was:  a photo, taken from a cell phone, of a Starlink conga line.

 

The forum doesn't support uploading images directly, you need to upload it to a site like Imgur and share the link to the photo. 

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On 10/7/2023 at 9:50 AM, bigyihsuan said:

The forum doesn't support uploading images directly, you need to upload it to a site like Imgur and share the link to the photo. 

You're right--it's been a while since I've posted images on the KSP forum, and I had forgotten the need for imgur.  I've updated my post with the (potato-quality) photo.

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4 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Nice! I haven't been lucky enough to see a Starlink train myself, but I can see why astronomers are peeved.

My folks have a place in the Abacos and they've seen some incredible launches. Im a busy millennial though so Im not sure what this 'vacation' word means.  Id thought some of the issues with actual, non-amateur astronomy had been mitigated? Was that propaganda? 

Edited by Pthigrivi
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44 minutes ago, Pthigrivi said:

My folks have a place in the Abacos and they've seen some incredible launches. Im a busy millennial though so Im not sure what this 'vacation' word means.  Id thought some of the issues with actual, non-amateur astronomy had been mitigated? Was that propaganda? 

Some of the issues have been mitigated, but I guess it's not as though the satellites weren't there at all.

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My understanding is that during steady state observation, Starlink is essentially invisible. Not sure how far that invisibility will last against a 10 meter telescope, I would love to see data on that.

While maneuvering (especially right after launch) they are still very bright though, that's a harder problem to solve.

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1 hour ago, Ultimate Steve said:

My understanding is that during steady state observation, Starlink is essentially invisible. Not sure how far that invisibility will last against a 10 meter telescope, I would love to see data on that.

While maneuvering (especially right after launch) they are still very bright though, that's a harder problem to solve.

If they are  eventually deorbited at about the same rate they are being launched there will be a nice light show somewhere every few nights.  But maybe Starlink/SpaceX can coordinate deorbit timing and location with major telescope schedules and targets to avoid photo bombing too often

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17 hours ago, cubinator said:

Some of the issues have been mitigated, but I guess it's not as though the satellites weren't there at all.

Yeah, this is all kicking off again, now that Project Kuiper is actually launching stuff.  Some of the issues have been mitigated but SpaceX scrapped one mitigation which would have interfered with their optical communication system. More generally, Starlink satellites are fairly dark but not quite as dark as astronomers would like. They're pitching for satellites to have a brightness of no more than apparent magnitude 7, and Starlink satellites are typically 2.5 to 6 times brighter than that still.

According to Wikipedia, the typical human eye can see objects down to an apparent magnitude of 6.5-7.0, so it looks like astronomers are aiming for satellite megaconstellations to be invisible to the naked eye. Which seems like a reasonable compromise if achievable.

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Seriously, why not start ongoing crowdfunding of a growing constellation of budget orbital telescopes?  Amateurs could timeshare access to them.  Not JWST grade of course, but even a 6 inch reflector above the atmosphere could make for some great viewing.  Of course, it wouldn't be the same as standing in a field at night swatting mosquitoes waiting for the clouds to move

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1 hour ago, darthgently said:

Seriously, why not start ongoing crowdfunding of a growing constellation of budget orbital telescopes?  Amateurs could timeshare access to them.  Not JWST grade of course, but even a 6 inch reflector above the atmosphere could make for some great viewing.  Of course, it wouldn't be the same as standing in a field at night swatting mosquitoes waiting for the clouds to move

A few million dollars plus a few years of engineering salaries (for just one of these satellites) is quite the crowdfunding campaign and I'm dubious that anything beyond a cubesat designed and built by unpaid volunteers could be reasonably done for the purpose of amateur astronomy, at least with the kind of money that is likely to be collected.

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