Regatta-Astro Project: Astrometric Studies From Small Space Laboratory

An Optical/infrared Astrometric Satellite Project Light

LIGHT is the name of a scanning astrometric satellite for stellar and galactic astronomy planned to be launched between 2007 and 2010. Four sets of Fizeau-type interferometers with a beam combiner unit of 1m baseline are the basic structure of the satellite optics. LIGHT is expected to observe the parallaxes and proper motions of nearly a hundred million stars up to V = 18 mag (K = 15 mag) magn...

Astrometric Data Sources for Space Surveillance and Space Control

The need for precision in space surveillance and space control continues to grow as both the number of satellites increases and the importance of space debris tracking elevates. Improvements in instrumentation, from detection devices to pointing hardware, is one area where precision is being increased. Once data acquisition is made, reduction software comes into play. Regardless of the precisio...

Studies to Enable a Paradigm Shift in the Space Enterprise: Astro/orbital Express

The ESPRI project: astrometric exoplanet search with PRIMA

PRIMA, the instrument for Phase-Referenced Imaging and Micro-arcsecond Astrometry at the VLTI, is currently being developed at ESO. PRIMA will implement the dual-feed capability, at first for two UTs or ATs, to enable simultaneous interferometric observations of two objects that are separated by up to 1 arcmin. PRIMA is designed to perform narrowangle astrometry in K-band with two ATs as well a...

Astrometric Calibration for Wide-Area Space Surveillance Sensors

A technique for the real time reduction of the astrometric position of a moving object detected against a background of reference stars has been developed for satellite and asteroid measurements. The technique has been implemented for the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) system and is currently being adapted for the space surveillance application and installed in the Moron Optical ...