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mayak

It's possible to spot many of the manmade objects orbiting Earth from the ground, merely non usually with the unaided eye. That could change in the coming days, as a squad of Russian engineers and students from the Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University (MAMI) deploy the Mayak satellite. The satellite itself is a standard cubesat around the size of a loaf of bread, merely it'southward going to deploy a solar reflector that could make it one of the brightest objects in the sky. This sounds absurd, merely it might badger astronomers.

Mayak (the Russian give-and-take for buoy) successfully fabricated it into orbit several days ago aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. Simply a few years ago, such a project would have been out of reach for a small team like the ane from MAMI. Yet, cubesats have offered a way to become very minor payloads into orbit on the cheap. Well, somewhat cheap. The team raised about $30,000 to fund the launch of this 3U cubesat on Boomstarter, a Russian equivalent of Kickstarter.

Once the satellite is in position at an altitude of 370 miles (600 kilometers), it volition unfurl a giant mylar reflector with a expanse of 170 foursquare feet (xvi foursquare meters). The designers merits this pyramid-shaped contraption will have a brightness of magnitude -x. That would make it brighter than Venus, leaving just the sun and moon with higher brightness. Some sources dispute this merits, proverb information technology will probably be closer to magnitude -3.six. This would drop Mayak downwards below Venus on the brightness calibration.

mayak app

Backers of the crowdfunding project have access to an app that tracks the position of the satellite, making it easier to spot. Even at the lower brightness estimates, Mayak should be visible from the ground only by looking up at the right time. The squad says this project is partially about inspiring people to get interested in space, and also to test an aerobraking technique that could one day be used to de-orbit satellites.

Some astronomers have expressed concern that the sudden appearance of a new super-bright object could interfere with their observations. The team notes that objects like the International Space Station are brighter than Mayak will exist, which is truthful. Nonetheless, Mayak's appearance could yet cause headaches, as astronomers performing big-calibration surveys have to make new adjustments in their information.

Nosotros'll know in a few days if the satellite'south reflector deployed correctly. Maybe y'all'll be able to have a peek at information technology yourself.