[ASA] Satellite Constellation 1 Workshop, June 29 & 30, 14:30-19:00 UT

[Sarah Brough]

Dear All,

While this workshop is not being held at the best time of day for 
Australian astronomers, it may be of interest to many.

Cheers, Sarah


  Satellite Constellations 1 Workshop

CTIO Mayall 4m DECam: A train of SpaceX Starlink satellites is seen in 
the night sky in this image captured with DECam on the Blanco 4-meter 
telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) by 
astronomers Clara Martínez-Vázquez and Cliff Johnson. 
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/DgIFCP7LAXfy0vYYsz3MVr?domain=nationalastro.org>

The National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab and the AAS, with support from 
NSF, are hosting the Satellite Constellations 1 (SATCON1) workshop 
virtually from 29 June to 2 July 2020. The first two days are open to 
people interested in mitigating the impact of satellite constellations 
on astronomy.

This workshop will gather together astronomers, satellite operators, 
dark-sky advocates, policy-makers, and other stakeholders and interested 
parties to discuss, understand, and quantify the impacts of large 
satellite constellations on astronomy and the human experience of the 
night sky. The goal is to work collectively towards effective solutions 
to mitigate those impacts and to publish them in a white paper which 
will be widely distributed. As launches and deployments of these 
satellite constellations have already begun, and new launches are 
planned for every few weeks, time is of the essence.

*i*n the weeks before the workshop, four working groups are drafting a 
report summarizing the current state of knowledge in four areas (1) 
synthesizing results from ground-based observations of satellites and 
identify future observing program needs; (2) examining the current 
status of simulations for assessment of impact and need for further 
refinement; (3) exploring mitigation through lab measurement of 
satellite surface reflection and detector performance as well as 
operational strategies; and (4) developing a set of metrics for 
protection of Optical/IR observations based on the results of the other 
working groups. Their findings will be shared with registered attendees 
and other stakeholders in a document a few days before the workshop and 
will be presented and discussed during the first two days of the 
workshop. Through the outcome of the discussions, revisions will be made 
and a white paper will result with recommendations that include 
quantitative metrics and an understanding on the impact on the science 
as well as our cultural heritage. This white paper will then be widely 
disseminated.

*When are the conference dates?*

Days 1 and 2, Monday, 29 June and Tuesday, 30 June, are open to 
astronomers, satellite operators, dark-sky advocates, policy-makers, and 
other stakeholders. The first two days will be devoted to sharing 
results from the four working groups and discussion.

Days 3 and 4, Wednesday, 1 July and Thursday, 2 July, will focus on the 
working groups (and highly interested attendees) merging information 
from the discussions and the pre-workshop document into produce a final 
white paper.

We will meet for four hours each day, in two 2-hour blocks:

  *   7:30am–9:30am US Pacific Time and 10am–noon US Pacific Time
  * 10:30am–12:30pm US Eastern Time/Chilean Time and 1:00pm–3:00 pm US
    Eastern Time/Chilean Time
  * 14:30 – 16:30 UTC and 17:00 – 19:00 UTC
  * 16:30 – 18:30 CEST and 19:00 – 21:00 CEST


*Where can you find the conference?* Online via ZOOM.

*Attend the first two days by registering at 
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/xk9GCQnMBZfzXBGGcPBDlp?domain=aas.org. All attendees must 
register to receive a /unique/ zoom link to the workshop. There is no 
fee. The registration deadline will be June 22, 2020.*

Image Caption: Starlink satellites imaged on 18 Nov. 2019 from the 
Blanco 4m telescope.
Image Credit: NOIRLab/CTIO/AURA/DELVE

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Constance E. Walker, Ph.D.
NSF’s NOIRLab
950 N. Cherry Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
cwalker at noao.edu <mailto:cwalker at noao.edu>

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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