Optical observations of the artificial objects at the Lviv Astronomical Observatory

Abstract

Space debris is becoming an increasing threat to near space services, including satellite communications, the launching of new satellites, as well as navigation and timekeeping programs. It affects even observations of the Earth. As space around us becomes more congested, the need to track space objects and provide information about space activities is becoming increasingly critical and urgent in helping to prevent collisions or damage caused by space debris. Among the methods of tracking artificial objects are optical methods, which can provide information about the position of the selected object (positional observations), distance to the object (laser observations), as well as about the behavior of the object in orbit and its shape (photometric observations). The Astronomical Observatory of Lviv National University is equipped with a special hardware complex and software for the implementation of observations of artificial objects and can provide relevant information.