Long-term photometric signature study of two GEO satellites

Abstract

Geostationary earth orbit satellites have been extensively used for unique high-orbit stationary characteristics. Long-term precise investigation is an important issue in the observation of GEO satellites, since it can provide valuable information on the satellites’ operation state, discrimination and early warning analysis. Ground-based optical-electronic devices play a significant role in the observation. 4-month photometric signature variation of two satellites is presented based on the successive observations using the 1.56-meter telescope of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO). It can be concluded that the long-term brightness change mainly results from the sun declination angle and regular orbit maneuver. Moreover, the solar panel offsets of the two satellites are analyzed and found to be approximately 4 degrees. Estimation of photometric accuracy reaches 0.15 mag for the application of CCD drift-scan optical-electronic technique.