{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7208775006","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.02951","title":"The Impact of Artificial Space Objects on Optical Astronomy as Determined from 32 Million Photometric Observations","display_name":"The Impact of Artificial Space Objects on Optical Astronomy as Determined from 32 Million Photometric Observations","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-09-02","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7208775006","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.02951"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2609.02951","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02951","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.02951","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"volume":null,"type":"preprint","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["arxiv","datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.02951","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5051546071","display_name":"Anthony D. Mallama","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3667-6967","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3667-6967"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I888564091","display_name":"Union astronomique internationale","ror":"https://ror.org/05nex2951","country_code":"FR","type":"funder","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I888564091"]}],"countries":["FR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mallama, Anthony","raw_affiliation_strings":["IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky , IAU-UAI Headquarters , 98-bis Blvd Arago , 75014 , Paris , France"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky , IAU-UAI Headquarters , 98-bis Blvd Arago , 75014 , Paris , France","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I888564091"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5069397752","display_name":"S. Karpov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0035-651X","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0035-651X"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I202391551","display_name":"Czech Academy of Sciences","ror":"https://ror.org/053avzc18","country_code":"CZ","type":"government","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I202391551"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210122644","display_name":"FZU - Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences","ror":"https://ror.org/02yhj4v17","country_code":"CZ","type":"facility","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I202391551","https://openalex.org/I4210122644"]}],"countries":["CZ"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Karpov, Sergey","raw_affiliation_strings":["Institute of Physics , Czech Academy of Sciences , CZ-182 21 Prague 8 , Czech Republic"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Institute of Physics , Czech Academy of Sciences , CZ-182 21 Prague 8 , Czech Republic","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I202391551","https://openalex.org/I4210122644"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101866661","display_name":"Richard E. Cole","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7093-7320","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7093-7320"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I888564091","display_name":"Union astronomique internationale","ror":"https://ror.org/05nex2951","country_code":"FR","type":"funder","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I888564091"]}],"countries":["FR"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Cole, Richard E.","raw_affiliation_strings":["IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky , IAU-UAI Headquarters , 98-bis Blvd Arago , 75014 , Paris , France"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky , IAU-UAI Headquarters , 98-bis Blvd Arago , 75014 , Paris , France","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I888564091"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":3,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11963","display_name":"Impact of Light on Environment and Health","score":0.8560000061988831,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2306","display_name":"Global and Planetary Change"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/23","display_name":"Environmental Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11963","display_name":"Impact of Light on Environment and Health","score":0.8560000061988831,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2306","display_name":"Global and Planetary Change"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/23","display_name":"Environmental Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11701","display_name":"Space Satellite Systems and Control","score":0.12839999794960022,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2202","display_name":"Aerospace Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12917","display_name":"Astronomy and Astrophysical Research","score":0.007000000216066837,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3105","display_name":"Instrumentation"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/31","display_name":"Physics and Astronomy"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/space-debris","display_name":"space debris","score":0.828000009059906},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/satellites","display_name":"satellites","score":0.5709999799728394},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/rocket-bodies","display_name":"rocket bodies","score":0.4869999885559082},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/photometric-observations","display_name":"photometric observations","score":0.5230000019073486},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/object-density","display_name":"object density","score":0.4300000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/exposure-duration","display_name":"exposure duration","score":0.4909999966621399},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/field-of-view","display_name":"field of view","score":0.7459999918937683},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/satellite-constellations","display_name":"satellite constellations","score":0.4909999966621399}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C73329638","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q527","display_name":"Sky","level":2,"score":0.7781000137329102},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C29829512","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q40218","display_name":"Spacecraft","level":2,"score":0.6495000123977661},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19269812","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26540","display_name":"Satellite","level":2,"score":0.5781999826431274},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126691448","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2028919","display_name":"Magnitude (astronomy)","level":2,"score":0.5683000087738037},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C1276947","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q333","display_name":"Astronomy","level":1,"score":0.5626000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C150627866","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1076893","display_name":"Field of view","level":2,"score":0.5374000072479248},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121332964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q413","display_name":"Physics","level":0,"score":0.5303000211715698},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779613214","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1153471","display_name":"Night sky","level":2,"score":0.5170000195503235},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C186467627","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12134","display_name":"Celestial sphere","level":2,"score":0.5138999819755554},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C70352696","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8928","display_name":"Constellation","level":2,"score":0.47540000081062317},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C62649853","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q199687","display_name":"Remote sensing","level":1,"score":0.46000000834465027},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C188984411","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124313","display_name":"Apparent magnitude","level":3,"score":0.41260001063346863},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2909558119","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6999","display_name":"Astronomical Objects","level":2,"score":0.4025999903678894},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C135692309","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111124","display_name":"Square (algebra)","level":2,"score":0.34290000796318054},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C187107819","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q835696","display_name":"NASA Deep Space Network","level":3,"score":0.34220001101493835},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781238097","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q175026","display_name":"Object (grammar)","level":2,"score":0.3361999988555908},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C135448202","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1545770","display_name":"Limiting magnitude","level":3,"score":0.3296000063419342},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C18949120","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275450","display_name":"Space debris","level":3,"score":0.3255000114440918},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9652623","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190109","display_name":"Field (mathematics)","level":2,"score":0.30630001425743103},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2778572836","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q380933","display_name":"Space (punctuation)","level":2,"score":0.3059999942779541},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C44870925","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37547","display_name":"Astrophysics","level":1,"score":0.2971000075340271},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C196644772","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3884964","display_name":"Orbit (dynamics)","level":2,"score":0.2833999991416931},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127313418","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1069","display_name":"Geology","level":0,"score":0.2815999984741211},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.2808000147342682},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C104060986","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180046","display_name":"Space exploration","level":2,"score":0.26420000195503235},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780848835","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4213","display_name":"Telescope","level":2,"score":0.26409998536109924},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C202572682","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35273","display_name":"Optical telescope","level":3,"score":0.260699987411499},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C13280743","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131089","display_name":"Geodesy","level":1,"score":0.25290000438690186}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2609.02951","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02951","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.02951","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2609.02951","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.02951","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2609.02951","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2609.02951","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02951","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.02951","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320306076","display_name":"National Science Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/021nxhr62"}],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7208775006.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7208775006.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":8,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2590671867","https://openalex.org/W3213576672","https://openalex.org/W4396835640","https://openalex.org/W4405301298","https://openalex.org/W7123661760","https://openalex.org/W7140297311","https://openalex.org/W7166687638","https://openalex.org/W7167742168"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W7167742168","https://openalex.org/W3142005339","https://openalex.org/W3105245647","https://openalex.org/W4327935649","https://openalex.org/W4319165642","https://openalex.org/W3088964854","https://openalex.org/W7124744345","https://openalex.org/W7167469530","https://openalex.org/W3214302734","https://openalex.org/W4200156983"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Photometric":[0],"observations":[1],"of":[2,23,36,41,60,70,93,99,139,147,158,165,179,195],"satellites,":[3],"rockets":[4],"and":[5,13,43,55,72,184],"space":[6],"debris":[7],"brighter":[8,44,78],"than":[9,45,79,209],"magnitudes":[10,18,47],"6.0,":[11],"7.0":[12,81],"8.0":[14],"are":[15,50,173],"characterized.":[16],"Those":[17],"pertain":[19],"to":[20,110,168],"different":[21],"levels":[22],"interference":[24],"with":[25,131],"astronomy":[26],"as":[27],"defined":[28],"by":[29],"the":[30,46,68,73,82,111,132,136,145,148,159,163,201],"International":[31],"Astronomical":[32],"Union.":[33],"The":[34,103],"densities":[35],"objects":[37,61,77,142],"per":[38],"square":[39,97],"degree":[40,96],"sky":[42,116,203],"listed":[48],"above":[49],"0.38":[51],"e-3,":[52,57],"0.76":[53],"e-3":[54],"1.10":[56],"respectively.":[58],"Probabilities":[59],"appearing":[62],"on":[63,67,88],"astronomical":[64,177],"images":[65],"depend":[66],"field":[69,98],"view":[71,100],"exposure":[74,92],"duration.":[75],"For":[76],"magnitude":[80],"probability":[83,104],"that":[84,105,153],"one":[85],"will":[86],"appear":[87],"a":[89,94,170,180],"10":[90,95],"second":[91],"is":[101,108,118],"15%.":[102],"an":[106],"object":[107],"visible":[109],"unaided":[112],"eye":[113],"under":[114],"dark":[115],"conditions":[117],"59%.":[119],"These":[120],"percentages":[121],"represent":[122],"all":[123],"nighttime":[124],"hours.":[125],"We":[126],"discuss":[127],"how":[128],"they":[129],"change":[130],"Sun's":[133],"distance":[134],"below":[135],"horizon.":[137],"Examination":[138],"data":[140],"for":[141,156],"launched":[143],"since":[144],"start":[146],"spacecraft":[149,172],"constellation":[150],"era":[151],"shows":[152],"satellites":[154,206],"account":[155],"most":[157],"bright":[160],"observations.":[161],"If":[162],"plans":[164],"satellite":[166],"operators":[167],"launch":[169],"million":[171],"realized,":[174],"nearly":[175],"every":[176],"image":[178],"few":[181],"seconds":[182],"duration":[183],"several":[185,193],"degrees":[186],"in":[187],"size":[188],"may":[189,204],"be":[190],"contaminated":[191],"during":[192],"hours":[194],"each":[196],"night.":[197],"Finally,":[198],"people":[199],"viewing":[200],"night":[202],"perceive":[205],"more":[207],"strongly":[208],"stars.":[210]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-07T11:25:07.637180","created_date":"2026-09-05T00:00:00"}