{
  "abstract": "We present a spectroscopic database and analysis of satellite streaks in Public Data Release 1 (PDR1) from the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), covering 6778 observations and ∼90 deg ² of sky from 2017 January to 2024 July. We detect 527 streaks across 492 observations, a contamination fraction of 7.3% that rises to monthly values above 20% by 2023–2024, although the streaks mask only 0.09% of the survey area. Of the 527 streaks, 475 (90.1%) are identified with a cataloged object using archival two-line elements: 258 (54%) lie in low or medium Earth orbit, and 217 (46%) are geostationary or highly elliptical. Only 35% were launched since 2010; the rest are spent rocket bodies, debris, and older spacecraft. This reflects HETDEX’s sensitivity to faint objects and its 2017–2024 observing baseline. The Hobby–Eberly Telescope’s large 10 m aperture and HETDEX’s ∼6 minute exposures result in similar observed magnitudes for low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) objects (median g AB = 16.2 ± 1.1 for LEO, 16.7 ± 1.1 for GEO). However, once transit time is corrected for, instantaneous magnitudes differ widely: g inst = 7.4 for LEO versus g inst = 13.0 for GEO objects, a difference of 5.6 mag, while the exposure-averaged magnitudes differ by only 0.5 mag. Normalized to 550 km, the 34 Starlink streaks give g (550 km) = 5.95, consistent with the mean V (550 km) = 5.92 ± 0.04 reported for VisorSat-design spacecraft. The spectra are consistent with reflected sunlight, with modest, signal-to-noise-driven differences in slope. The catalog, spectra, and code are archived on Zenodo (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.22962479 ).",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "The University of Texas at Austin",
    "E. A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics University of Hull",
    "University of Hull",
    "Baylor University",
    "University of Oxford",
    "Yunnan University",
    "Waseda University",
    "Missouri University of Science and Technology",
    "The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS)",
    "The Pennsylvania State University",
    "University of Washington"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Erin Mentuch Cooper",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2307-0146"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karl Gebhardt",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8433-8185"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dustin Davis",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8925-9769"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Daniel J. Farrow",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2575-0652"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Barbara G. Castanheira",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7010-7637"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Gavin Dalton",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3031-2588"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gary J. Hill",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6717-7685"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Stephen C. Hummel",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-1326-6712"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Chenxu 辰旭 Liu 刘",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5561-2010"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Shiro Mukae",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3823-8279"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Shun Saito",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6186-5476"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Donald P. Schneider",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7240-7449"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Tuttle",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7327-565X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/921pgv9yztrm2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3847/1538-3881/aeb0a7",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "921pgv9yztrm2",
  "issns": [
    "0004-6256",
    "1538-3881"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aeb0a7",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
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  "pdf_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aeb0a7/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-06",
  "publisher": "American Astronomical Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/921pgv9yztrm2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T12:20:53Z",
      "native_id": "10.3847/1538-3881/aeb0a7",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aeb0a7"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "journal-openalex:3103|Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Satellite Streaks in HETDEX: Spectra, Orbital Identification, and Survey Impact",
  "title_text": "Satellite Streaks in HETDEX: Spectra, Orbital Identification, and Survey Impact",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:20:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/921pgv9yztrm2",
  "venue": "The Astronomical Journal",
  "versions": []
}