Speaker
Description
AMOS, the All-sky Meteor Orbit System, is a system dedicated to automatic detection and orbit determination of meteors. Although the primary objects of interest are the meteors, AMOS is also suitable for the observation of re-entry events. The network offers the opportunity to observe re-entry events simultaneously from different locations, which is crucial for the trajectory determination of the re-entering object. In the last four years, AMOS systems have detected by during their autonomous detection mode four different re-entry events, each observed simultaneously from at least two different locations, providing us with great opportunity for data reduction, event modeling and methods validation. In 2020 we have captured in detail the re-entry of CZ-3B above the Hawaiian Islands. In December 2021 a Starlink satellite’s re-entry has been detected by AMOS cameras at the Canary Islands. In March 2023 AMOS cameras in Australia detected very slow object moving across the sky. By comparing this event’s time with predicted re-entry times reported by Space-Track.org, we have identified the smallsat CIRIS (University of Utah) as a possible candidate. In June 2023 CZ-2D upper stage has been detected by AMOS cameras situated in Slovakia. The ground track of the objects passed through Slovakia, Poland, and Baltic Sea.
Satellites, rocket upper stages and space debris are primarily made from some kind of an aluminum alloy. The interaction with our atmosphere during the re-entry causes the object to ablate, which leads to the release of aluminum and production of aluminum oxide, also known as alumina, which can trigger further unexplored side effects in the Earth’s atmosphere, including the potential damage of the ozone layer. Optical observations using the all-sky meteor system in combination with the emission spectra of the ablating re-entry fragments captured by AMOS-Spec spectrographs can provide us with unique data which could potentially be used to assess the amount of aluminum oxides and aluminum atoms released during the observed re-entry event. Such analyses could help constrain the negative effects of re-entries on our environment. In our technical presentation we will discuss the current status of the event reconstruction for CZ-3B upper stage, introduce the other three events detected by AMOS systems and discuss the potential of AMOS observations application to tackle the problem of ozone depletion due to satellites re-entries.
