Starlink Generation 2 Mini Satellites: Photometric Characterization · HackerPapers discussions

Starlink Generation 2 Mini Satellites: Photometric Characterization — mentioned by xoa

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 21:51:00 GMT

Can't tell if you're joking or not, but SpaceX has indeed been collaborating with astronomical observatories to reduce the apparent magnitude (brightness) to ground for Starlink satellites. It's not as if the potential issues weren't apparent and reported on pretty early on, ie, [0] in summer 2020 before the network entered beta. It's not perfect and the period during orbit raising before the satellites enter operational orbits is more challenging, but very significant reductions have been achieved per recs, see for example "Starlink Gen 2 Mini Satellites Photometric Characterization" [1] in…

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Starlink Generation 2 Mini Satellites: Photometric Characterization — mentioned by porphyra

Thu, 04 Apr 2024 22:22:20 GMT

> If these LEO satellites can be darkened to 7th magnitude, then a new instrument signature removal algorithm can remove some of the residual artifacts. The current generation of Starlink satellites is already above the 7th magnitude, so it no longer saturates the CCD. [1] Of course, darkening them further would always be good. [1] http://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06657

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Starlink Generation 2 Mini Satellites: Photometric Characterization — mentioned by schiffern

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 23:04:17 GMT

I think they meant to post a different link. The latest satellites are dimmer than 7 apparent magnitude (meeting the AAS recommendation) despite being 4x larger. https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06657

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Starlink Generation 2 Mini Satellites: Photometric Characterization — HN submission

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 15:59:52 GMT

Starlink v2 reached the brightness reduction target recommended by astronomers

122 points; 76 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.