SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NEAR-EARTH ENVIRONMENT WITH THE RAPTORS II TELESCOPE

Abstract

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) and artificial satellites are both found in the space environment around us and offer scientific value as well as an inherent risk. With the continuous discovery of new NEOs and the exponential increase of satellites in orbit, ground-based telescopes are becoming increasingly crucial in helping characterize the near-Earth environment. The RAPTORS II telescope is a remote-accessed, 0.6 m telescope located at Biosphere II in Oracle, Arizona. Among its seven filters, RAPTORS II is most notably equipped with a transmission grating capable of conducting visible to short-wave infrared (0.425 – 0.85 micron) spectral observations with moderate (1.7 nm/pixel) resolution. First installed in the summer of 2021, the setup and wavelength calibration of RAPTORS II took place during the fall semester as part of my honors thesis work. In the spring, additional filters were installed, and preliminary spectral data of main-belt asteroids was gathered to assess its spectroscopic capabilities. Our initial results suggest that RAPTORS II is capable of characterizing and discriminating space objects. Future work with RAPTORS II will consist of the characterization and grouping of cislunar objects and will likely be the topic of my Ph.D. thesis as a graduate student at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.