Optical detection of rapidly moving objects in space

William Priedhorsky; Jeffrey J. Bloch

doi:10.1364/AO.44.000423

Optical detection of rapidly moving objects in space

William Priedhorsky and Jeffrey J. Bloch

Applied Optics
Vol. 44,
Issue 3,
pp. 423-433
(2005)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.44.000423

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William Priedhorsky and Jeffrey J. Bloch, "Optical detection of rapidly moving objects in space," Appl. Opt. 44, 423-433 (2005)

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Abstract

We compare the sensitivity of photon-counting and charged-coupled-device (CCD) imagers for rapidly moving objects. Our test case involves the detection of small objects in space, seen against a diffuse zodiacal light background, as observed from a space platform. We contrast photon-counting detectors, with excellent time resolution and negligible readout noise, against CCDs with a significantly larger quantum efficiency. For fast moving objects and small fields of view, the photon-counting detectors are able to detect significantly smaller targets, with the added benefit of providing angle–angle–time metric information in addition to high-time-resolution light curves. For larger fields of view and slower moving objects, the CCDs are more sensitive. These results may motivate the further development of microchannel-plate photon-counting systems and amplified CCDs for detecting and tracking space objects.

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Detector	RULLI	Gen III RULLI	1-MHz CCD	0.1-MHz CCD	Amplified CCD
Format	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K
Maximum event rate	10⁷ Hz	10⁷ Hz	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Quantum efficiency	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1
Detector frame time	N/A	N/A	1 s	10 s	0.1 s
Readout noise	0	0	6 e⁻	4e⁻	$\sqrt{0.2} e^{-}$

Detector^a	RULLI	Gen III RULLI	CCD (all)
Zodiacal light, 48 × 48 μrad (10 × 10 arc sec)	2.76	25.53	57.42
1-cm object at 1000 km	2.05	17.43	40.35

Detector	RULLI	Gen III RULLI	1-MHz CCD	0.1-MHz CCD	Amplified CCD^b
Diameter (cm)	0.89	0.41	2.33	1.77	0.86
Signal counts	16.3	29.0	2,196	1,265	298
Background counts	0.28	2.55	77,172	30,974	566

Detector	RULLI	Gen III RULLI	1-MHz CCD	0.1-MHz CCD	Amplified CCD
Format	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K	2K × 2K
Maximum event rate	10⁷ Hz	10⁷ Hz	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Quantum efficiency	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1	see Fig. 1
Detector frame time	N/A	N/A	1 s	10 s	0.1 s
Readout noise	0	0	6 e⁻	4e⁻	$\sqrt{0.2} e^{-}$

Detector^a	RULLI	Gen III RULLI	CCD (all)
Zodiacal light, 48 × 48 μrad (10 × 10 arc sec)	2.76	25.53	57.42
1-cm object at 1000 km	2.05	17.43	40.35

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