Basically a repeat of Is Starlink 1130 (Darksat) really dimmer? but this time with Visorsat.
What is the observed brightness of VisorSat(s) and is it dimmer than non-Visorsat Starlink satellites?
Asked
Active
Viewed 590 times
3
-
different but related (and currently unanswered): How will SpaceX's VisorSat work? How could a sunshade articulate to shade parts of Starlink satellite as it orbits the Earth? – uhoh Jul 03 '20 at 15:22
-
also related: Astrophotographer Thierry Legault is not convinced that DarkSat is darker than the others. Have photometric measurements been reported? which makes me wonder if Thierry Legault has said anything about VisorSat yet... – uhoh Jul 03 '20 at 15:25
-
1Initial observation of Visorsat in orbit puts max brightness in orbit at magnitude 7. – Barry Jenakuns Aug 10 '20 at 10:24
1 Answers
6
Initial observations of the Visorsat put it a mag 7 in final orbit; however larger collections of observations from amateur sat watchers put it at ~mag 6. Since then further observations by astronomers indicates a mag of 6.5. This represents a 2 mag reduction from Starlink which is ~mag 4.5, however it is still short of mag 7 requirement set by LSST.
And finally an official graphic from SpaceX on the Visorsat brightness. Confirmation of 6.5 magnitude average brightness, with it varying below and above that.
Barry Jenakuns
- 4,151
- 17
- 38
-
"Initial observation" suggests a positive identification of the satellite. That's maybe too strong to describe that message which boils down to we didn't see it but should have been able to see objects as faint as magnitude 7. – user2705196 Aug 10 '20 at 13:07
-
I can't
+1again for all the extra effort. You might consider asking a separate question about the part that seems "Confusing AHAHSAGDH" :-) – uhoh Sep 07 '20 at 13:10