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The Vision, Autonomy, and Decision Research (VADeR) Lab Space Domain Awareness Observatory uses data from our two telescopes, Panopticon and SITH to provide data for space situational awareness (SSA) research. Our aim is to uniquely identify objects, determine if they are "active" or "dead" -- that is, if they have maneuver capability, and understand their attitude motion.Ìý

SITH is our 0.6 m f/6.5 telescope. Panopticon consists of 4 co-aligned 0.2 m f/3 telescopes for simultaneous multi-phenomenology observations. These telescopes are equipped with sCMOS and near-IR cameras as well as color filters, diffraction gratings, and polarizing filters. We also collect observations with an event camera which detects relative changes in brightness.

The data collected by our team of Skywatchers allow us to make predictions and characterize objects in space. We look at an object's shape, attitude, material properties, and mass properties. We analyze time-varying properties of the light reflected from the objects observed, such as brightness, color, and polarization.Ìý

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