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Constellation Light Pollution Evaluation Software
A NASA software catalog entry available for reuse or request.
About this technology
Overview
The Evaluate Constellation software uses a semi-empirical method to estimate the statistically expected number of brighter-than-recommended constellation satellites above a representative, low-latitude ground-based observer -- a single metric that simultaneously incorporates the effects of constellation population, altitude, brightness, and variability. It then conducts a two-part evaluation based on this metric, which provides a quantitative method of comparing the potential impact that different constellations might have on ground-based visible and near-IR astronomical observations. The Evaluate Constellation algorithm is based on a method of estimating the statistically expected number of brighter-than-recommended constellation satellites above a ground-based observer, which is a novel semi-empirical approach based on a newly-developed evaluation metric that incorporates the effects of constellation population, altitude, brightness, and variability.