{
  "abstract": "Direct measurements of the angular sizes of stars (other than our Sun) are inherently limited by telescopes' optical diffraction limit. The spatial diffraction limit can be overcome by using time-domain information when stars are `eclipsed' by anything moving in the foreground: artificial satellites or the Moon (known as `lunar occultation imaging'). Here we analyse the angular resolution achievable by high-speed photon counting devices, when stars are eclipsed for several microseconds by one of the thousands of satellites now in low or mid-Earth orbit. We also build a full Bayesian statistical treatment for analysing simulated observations. We show that eclipses by the moon and satellites deliver $<2$ milliarcsecond resolution for $\\sim$$10^4$ stars every year, with the diameters of $\\sim$$10^1 - 10^2$ stars constrained to better than $0.5$ milliarcseconds. The application of satellites requires an ultra-fast, photon-resolving detector, capable of continuous readout with inter-frame delay controlled within $\\lesssim 1$ $μ$s. Such a fast rate can easily be handled by the SPINA instrument, which has demonstrated $8$ ns inter-frame delay, and potentially by the Cherenkov Telescope Array.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2608.11161",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Leo W. H. Fung"
    },
    {
      "name": "Albert Wai Kit Lau"
    },
    {
      "name": "Richard Massey"
    },
    {
      "name": "George F. Smoot"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxbbybgezaxfa.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2608.11161",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "dxbbybgezaxfa",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11161",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-SA 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.IM"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.SR"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3105|Astronomy and Astrophysical Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7202297714",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.11161",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxbbybgezaxfa.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
      "native_id": "2608.11161",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11161"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.IM",
      "subfield": "instrumentation-methods"
    },
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.SR",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Eclipses by Artificial Satellites to Measure the Angular Sizes of Stars",
  "title_text": "Eclipses by Artificial Satellites to Measure the Angular Sizes of Stars",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxbbybgezaxfa",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}