When the Orion space capsule flies by the Moon on the Artemis 2 mission, it can temporarily turn into a backyard object of observation, and this rare conjunction makes this particular space expedition particularly valuable for citizen astronomy. Unistellar invites owners of its smart telescopes to observe how the brightness of the rocket changes in other words, the light curve at various phases of the mission. This way, an event publicly available for observation becomes much more interesting for science. Amateur scientists can make distributed measurements over different geographic regions, atmospheric conditions, and relative positions of Earth and the rocket.
Although the principle of observation itself is rather simple, it allows us to obtain interesting data. In astronomy, the measurements of brightness belong to the domain of photometry the process of converting visual information into a uniform set of numerical data. With a rocket, one can learn about how its brightness varies depending on position, rotation, reflection of solar radiation, etc.
Unistellar’s proposition is based not on anything revolutionary but on the experience accumulated in the company’s citizen-science initiative. According to Unistellar, its network of telescopes has already contributed to scientific studies of exoplanets, asteroids, comets, and mission tracking including several peer-reviewed scientific publications on observations of communities. The current initiative on the Artemis 2 mission is just another step after the previous observation initiatives related to the Artemis 1 mission and the James Webb Space Telescope.
As Artemis 2 approaches the moon, this event offers a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of the mission and its trajectory, said Dr. Franck Marchis, senior planetary astronomer at the SETI Institute and co-founder of Unistellar. Coordinated observations can provide valuable insights that complement professional data. By capturing this moment, amateur astronomers can play a meaningful role by contributing observations that help refine tracking, improve mission analysis, and strengthen collaboration between the public and the scientific community.
It is rather unlikely that Orion will be visible on Earth all along the entire flight. The two major factors influencing this problem are that the spacecraft must be near enough to Earth to be observed and must be above the horizon at any specific point in time. Moreover, tracking the space vessel is rather complicated as the spacecraft is fast-moving and constantly varying its brightness. Hence, prior preparations are required for such observations. Preparations made by Unistellar users will make the difference between having a look at the sky and making the observations valuable for scientists.
The recommended procedure involves choosing the place for the observation with good horizon, checking the sky for possible obstructions beforehand, and testing the equipment in advance using brighter objects, such as the Moon. In the Unistellar app, the user should choose the Artemis 2 spacecraft from the ephemerides menu, obtain the coordinates of the spacecraft for their location, and send the data to the telescope for the purpose of Go To control. Once the telescope is oriented, the observer’s task will get easier as the only thing left is to start recording and monitor the target.