• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.55-63
• /
• 2004

Observation environment of the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory(BOAO) has been examined using various statistical data including real observation times versus allocated times and seeing statistics. The data have been collected from the observation logs of the 1.8m telescope in the period 1998 - 2004. New criteria have been set up to calculate a more realistic observation efficiency of the observatory. The new statistical analysis based on the new criteria gives the overall observation efficiency of BOAO as $38.6\%$, that is equivalent to 115.8 observable nights out of 300 allocatable nights. The seeing statistics shows that the mean seeing measured at the focal images is 2".3. The present study of the observation environment of BOAO suggests that differential photometry and spectroscopy should be preferred modes of observation to maximize the productivity of BOAO.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.35.1-35.1
• /
• 2008

The importance on the simulation of earth observation optical payloads has been recently emphasized in order to estimate on-orbit imaging performance of the payloads. The estimation should consider all aspects of payload development; design, manufacture, test, assembly, launch and space environment. Until recently several studies have been focused the evaluation of the individual factors rather than the integrated. This paper presents the development of an integrated payload simulator. The simulator analyzes the payload imaging performance based on MTF(Modulation Transfer Function) calculations of the major factors (Diffraction, Aberration, Detector integration, Image motion and etc.) and the simulator can generate realistic artificial earth images as taken by defined earth observation payloads. The simulator is developed for the use of evaluating pre- and post-launch imaging performance and assisting on-board calibration of COMPSAT-3.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.63.3-63.3
• /
• 2016

NYSC 1m telescope is completely assembled now, and equipped with FLI PL-16803 4k CCD and Shelyak eShel spectrograph (R~10,000) on optical system of f/8. From 12th Jan 2016, optical system alignment and test observations have been performed. We present the result of M35 photometric observation for the performance test of the 1m telescope. The photometric observation was carried out for the central part of M35 with the field of view, ${\sim}15^{\prime}.8{\times}15^{\prime}.8$. Standard transformation to the UBVI system was done by the photometric data of M35 in Sung and Bessell(1999).

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.240-247
• /
• 2009

Wind tunnel test for Electro-Optical Targeting System(EOTS) has been conducted to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics, especially the torque characteristics of the rotating parts to insure the enough actuator power during the actual operation. The influence of EOTS's complex configuration, such as the observation window, has been investigated by comparing with the results of the simplified models made of half sphere and the cylinder. It has been found that the position of the observation window of EOTS has an effect on surface pressure distribution and the torque characteristics of the rotating observation part.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.249-264
• /
• 2019

In this study, the precise orbit determination (POD) software is developed for optical observation. To improve the performance of the estimation algorithm, a nonlinear batch filter, based on the unscented transform (UT) that overcomes the disadvantages of the least-squares (LS) batch filter, is utilized. The LS and UT batch filter algorithms are verified through numerical simulation analysis using artificial optical measurements. We use the real optical observation data of a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, Cryosat-2, observed from optical wide-field patrol network (OWL-Net), to verify the performance of the POD software developed. The effects of light travel time, annual aberration, and diurnal aberration are considered as error models to correct OWL-Net data. As a result of POD, measurement residual and estimated state vector of the LS batch filter converge to the local minimum when the initial orbit error is large or the initial covariance matrix is smaller than the initial error level. However, UT batch filter converges to the global minimum, irrespective of the initial orbit error and the initial covariance matrix.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.19-30
• /
• 2017

The optical wide-field patrol network (OWL-Net) is a Korean optical surveillance system that tracks and monitors domestic satellites. In this study, a batch least squares algorithm was developed for optical measurements and verified by Monte Carlo simulation and covariance analysis. Potential error sources of OWL-Net, such as noise, bias, and clock errors, were analyzed. There is a linear relation between the estimation accuracy and the noise level, and the accuracy significantly depends on the declination bias. In addition, the time-tagging error significantly degrades the observation accuracy, while the time-synchronization offset corresponds to the orbital motion. The Cartesian state vector and measurement bias were determined using the OWL-Net tracking data of the KOMPSAT-1 and Cryosat-2 satellites. The comparison with known orbital information based on two-line elements (TLE) and the consolidated prediction format (CPF) shows that the orbit determination accuracy is similar to that of TLE. Furthermore, the precision and accuracy of OWL-Net observation data were determined to be tens of arcsec and sub-degree level, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.391-396
• /
• 2004

Spaceborne earth observation or astronomical payloads often use Cassegrain-type telescopes due to the limits in mass and volume. Precision optical alignment of such a telescope is vital to the success of the mission. This paper describes the simulated optical alignment methods using interferograms, wavefront error, and reverse-optimization method for different levels of alignment accuracy. It concludes with the alignment experiment results of a Cassegrain type spaceborne camera with 300mm entrance pupil diameter.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.111-117
• /
• 2001

Recently, we have set up a new digital CCD camera system, MicroMax YHS-1300 manufactured by Roper Scientific for Ha observation by Solar Flare Telescope at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory. It has a 12 bit dynamic range, a pixel number of 1300$\times$1030, a thermoelectric cooler, and an electric shutter. Its readout speed is about 3 frames per second and the dark current is about 0.05 e-/p/s at $-10^{\circ}C$. We have made a system performance test by confirming the system linearity, system gain, and system noise that its specification requires. We have also developed a data acquisition software which connects a digital camera con-troller to a PC and acquires H$\alpha$ images via Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 under Windows 98. Comparisons of high quality H$\alpha$ images of AR 9169 and AR 9283 obtained from SOFT with the corresponding images from Learmonth Solar Observatory in Australia confirm that our H$\alpha$ digital observational system is performed properly. Finally, we present a set of H$\alpha$ images taken from a two ribbon flare occurred in AR 9283.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.163-175
• /
• 1996

We propose the development and test result of new optical axis alignment system for the interchangeable F/8 secondary mirror of the BOAO 1.8m telescope system. Since the original system was not equipped with a suitable optical alignment facility, the whole alignment process was performed by hand. It was necessary at least three persons working more than 2 nights and the altitude of the telescope could not exceed 10 degrees, in such altitude the alignment quality was not so good by atmospheric effect. The new system adopts position readable motorized system and remote control operation by the computer installed in observation room, which reduces the number of workers to only one and eliminates the altitude restriction. The defocused CCD image pair obtained at higher altitude makes the aberration estimates more accurately and the number of required alignment loops is reduced from 10 to 4. The system has been installed on September 1, and performed alignment three times. The test results show that the system is stable and accurate, gives better optical performance of the telescope under F/8 focus. We hope to emphasize the fact that the new system will increase observation time of the telescope by about 20 nights per year assuming one alignment in every month.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.201-207
• /
• 2015

An algorithm to automatically extract coordinate and time information from optical observation data of geostationary orbit satellites (GEO satellites) or geosynchronous orbit satellites (GOS satellites) is developed. The optical wide-field patrol system is capable of automatic observation using a pre-arranged schedule. Therefore, if this type of automatic analysis algorithm is available, daily unmanned monitoring of GEO satellites can be possible. For data acquisition for development, the COMS1 satellite was observed with 1-s exposure time and 1-m interval. The images were grouped and processed in terms of "action", and each action was composed of six or nine successive images. First, a reference image with the best quality in one action was selected. Next, the rest of the images in the action were geometrically transformed to fit in the horizontal coordinate system (expressed in azimuthal angle and elevation) of the reference image. Then, these images were median-combined to retain only the possible non-moving GEO candidates. By reverting the coordinate transformation of the positions of these GEO satellite candidates, the final coordinates could be calculated.