Features of observing small space objects in ground-based optical telescopes using laser guide stars
V.V. Kleymionov, E.V. Novikova
Alexander Mozhaysky Military Space Academy, St Petersburg, Russia
Keywords: adaptive optics, atmospheric turbulence, laser guide star, monostatic and bistatic schemes, image jitter, cross-angle correlation coefficient
Abstract
The primary challenge in observing small (inconspicuous) space objects with ground-based optical telescopes is the effect of the atmosphere on the passage of radiation from a small (inconspicuous) space object. This paper examines the specifics of long-exposure observations of small space objects by recording short-exposure images of a laser guide star and then summing them in the telescope's focal plane. Correlation analysis is used to investigate the relationship between random displacements of the observed laser guide star image and the predicted position of the small space object. It is shown that a sufficient condition for determining their relative positions is the ratio of the absolute values of the energy centers of gravity of the images as two jointly correlated Gaussian random variables with a Cauchy probability density distribution. Calculation results for monostatic and bistatic laser guide star formation schemes are presented.
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