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Shortcut to Space Stuff |
Selected publications and links to the data: | |
Part I (2010 to date) | |
| (see Part II for 2009 and earlier publications) | |
Reference |
Contents |
Buzzoni, A.:
"Telescope Arrays for Wide-field Sky Surveys. A technical assessment and a cost model", 2025, Royal Astronomical Society Techniques and Instruments (RASTI), 4, 65 (DOI: 10.1093/rasti/rzae065) |
In this study we tackled a proxy approach to wide-field large monolithic telescopes in terms of
composite assembly of smaller instruments. We show that a telescope array can provide a cost-effective solution,
as a factor of √N reduced f-number can be achieved when combining N (similar) telescopes, each of
diameter darray, to synthesize an equivalent monolithic diameter Dmono=√N × darray.
A cost model is developed, in this regard, by comparing the COTS figures for telescopes up to a metric size as supplied
by primary international manufacturers.
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Buzzoni, A., et al.:
"The TANDEM Project as a pilot case for wide-field telescope arrays", 2025, The Astronomical Journal, 169, 53 (DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad93a2) |
We give an account of the TANDEM project, which consists of a combo of four customized and independently
steereable 35 cm f/3 Newtonian telescopes, each equipped with a Moravian C4-16000 camera, observing through
the BVRcIc filters of the Johnson-Cousins system.
A corrected field of view (FOV) of 2o × 2o is offered by each telescope,
though quite special pointing capabilities and observing modes are available for the telescope array,
such as to cover up to 16 deg2 across sparse celestial fields, each up to 20o in separation.
While especially conceived for Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU-SST) activities, TANDEM may also
find additional applications in a more direct astronomical context.
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Buzzoni, A.:
"Wide-Field Optical Tracking of LEO Objects: Theoretical Assessment and Observing Strategy", 2024, Advances in Space Research, 74, 4990 |
The main technical and strategic aspects related to Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) with optical sensors
are set in context in this study to lead to an efficient inventory of the active satellites and un-cooperant
space debris population at Low-Earth orbital regimes (LEO). Many counter-intuitive aspects are discussed
in this regard, compared for instance with a more classical "astronomical" approach, delving in particular the widely
recognized inherent link between time-tag accuracy and resolving power of optical imagery to track LEO objects.
A number of tables and graphical plots are provided for practical use to the reader.
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Fulle, M. and the Comet Interceptor Collaboration (w/ Buzzoni, A.)
"Comets beyond 4 au: How pristine are Oort nuclei?", 2022, MNRAS, 513, 5377 |
In the framework of the on-going observing activities in preparation to the ESA mission Comet Interceptor,
that will target an Oort or interstellar comet during its first approach to the Sun, we discuss here
observations of dust tails at heliocentric distances larger than 4 au in order to retrieve
the physical parameters driving cometary activity beyond Jupiter by means of a probabilistic tail model,
which is consistent with the activity model defining the gas coma parameters due to the sublimation of
carbon monoxide, molecular oxygen, methane, ethane, and carbon dioxide since the activity onset at 85 au
from the Sun.
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Lombini, M. et al. (w/ Buzzoni, A.)
"Steps forward to SST applications of slit-less multi-object spectroscopy with the SuperFOSC camera at the Loiano astronomical observatory", 2022, Proc. of the SPIE, Vol. 12188, id. 1218854 |
We investigate here the SuperFOSC system performance in terms of spectral resolution as a function of the intruding object(s) path
for a grism with a fixed or variable position angle. The EU-SST project SuperFOSC, currently in progress at INAF-OAS, is a one square
degree wide-field camera that will equip the “G.D. Cassini’” telescope, in Loiano. In addition, as an innovative concept, we also
discuss a three-faces
grism (Trism) solution to catch any source three spectra at a time, each 120 deg apart in position angle on the sky,
to maximise spectral resolution disregarding object trajectory. An added value of our Trism solution would be avoiding
moving optical parts inside the instrument with a significantly improved image quality.
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Alessi, E.M., Buzzoni, A., Daquin, J., Carbognani, A. & Tommei, G.:
"Dynamical properties of the Molniya satellite constellation: Long-term evolution of orbital eccentricity", 2021, Acta Astronautica, 179, 659 |
We analyze the orbital evolution of the mean eccentricity given by the Two-LineElements (TLE)
set of the Molniya satellites constellation. The numerical evolution of the eccentricity, obtained by a two-degree-of-freedom time
dependent model assuming different orders in the series expansion of the third-body effect, is compared against the mean
evolution given by the TLE. The results show that, despite being highly elliptical orbits, the second order expansion catches
extremely well the behavior. Also, the lunisolar effect turns out to be non-negligible for the behavior of the longitude
of the ascending node and the argument of pericenter.
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Gardiol, D. et al. (w/ Buzzoni, A.):
"Cavezzo, the first Italian meteorite recovered by the PRISMA fireball network. Orbit, trajectory, and strewn-field", 2021, MNRAS, 501, 1215 |
Two meteorite pieces have been recovered in Italy, near the town of Cavezzo (Modena), on 2020 January 4th. The associated
fireball was observed on the evening of New Year’s Day 2020 by eight all-sky cameras of the PRISMA fireball network, a partner
of FRIPON. The computed trajectory had an inclination angle of approximately 68o and a velocity at infinity of 12.8 km/s.
The computed orbital elements, compared with the ones of known Near-Earth Asteroids from the NEODyS database, are compatible
with one asteroid only; 2013 VC10. The estimated original mass of the meteoroid, 3.5 kg, and size, approximately 13 cm, is so
far the smallest among the current 35 cases in which meteorites were recovered from precise strewn-field computation thanks to
observational data.
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Colas, F. et al. (w/ Buzzoni, A.):
"FRIPON: a worldwide network to track incoming meteoroids", 2020, A&Ap, 644, A53 |
The FRIPON network has been monitoring meteoroid entries since 2016, thereby allowing
the characterization of their dynamical and physical properties. In addition, the level of automation of the network makes it possible
to trigger a meteorite recovery campaign only a few hours after it reaches the surface of the Earth.
Nearly 4000 meteoroids have been detected so far and characterized by FRIPON. The distribution of their orbits appears to
be bimodal, with a cometary population and a main belt population. A first estimate of the absolute meteoroid flux
(mag < −5; meteoroid size ≥1 cm) amounts to 1250/yr/106 km2.
Finally, the first meteorite was recovered in Italy (Cavezzo, January 2020)
thanks to the PRISMA network, a component of the FRIPON science project.
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Buzzoni, A., Guichard, J., Alessi, E.M., Altavilla, G., Figer, A., Carbognani, A. & Tommei, G.:
"Spectrophotometric and dynamical properties of the soviet/russian constellation of Molniya satellites", 2020, JSSE, 7, 255. |
We report on the extended observing campaign of the surviving Soviet/Russian spacecraft Molniya,
carried out in the years 2014–17 at Mexican and Italian telescopes. Spectrophotometry and astrodynamical
analysis have been carried out for all the 43 demised payloads still in uncontrolled HEO orbit at late 2017,
in order to assess dynamical and reflectance properties of such a wide family of virtually identical orbiting
objects, as well as their long-term orbit evolution.
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Vellutini, E., Bianchi, G., Pardini, C., Anselmo, L., Pisanu, T., Di Lizia, P., Piergentili, F., Monaci, F., Reali, M.,
Villadei, W., Buzzoni, A., D’Amore, G. & Perozzi, E.:
"Monitoring the final orbital decay and the re-entry of Tiangong-1 with the Italian SST ground sensor network", 2020, JSSE, 7, 487. |
The re-entry of the first Chinese Space Station, Tiangong-1 attracted
a great worldwide attention and some concerns.
In this paper, a description is given of the Tiangong-1 monitoring activities by the Italian sensor network
contributing to the European SST (Space Surveillance and Tracking) consortium.
Additional emphasis is also devoted to the coordination aspects of several
Italian entities (military, civil and research organizations) that worked together.
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Carbognani, A. and Buzzoni, A.:
"Spinning and colour properties of the active asteroid (6478) Gault", 2020, MNRAS, 493, 70. |
We report on accurate BVRc observations of (6478) Gault, notable for its sporadic, comet-like ejection of dust.
This has been mainly interpreted as reconfigurations after YORP spin-up,
although merging of a contact binary system cannot be fully excluded. A prevailing period value of
3.34 ± 0.02 h is supported by our and other photometric observations. We also reports
on a bluer colour drift during the April session, with about (B−V) ~ 0.35±0.09 mag. This
colour change can be due to asteroid rotation and support the hypothesis that there is a bluer
surface under the Gault’s dust.
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Carbognani, A., et al. (w/Buzzoni, A.):
"A case study of the May 30, 2017, Italian fireball", 2020, EPJ Plus, 135, id.255. |
On May 30, 2017, a green bright fireball crossed the sky of north-eastern Italy.
In this paper, on the basis of simple physical models, we
will compute the atmospheric trajectory, analyze the meteoroid atmospheric dynamics, the dark flight phase
(with the strewn field) and compute the best heliocentric orbit of the progenitor body.
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Buzzoni, A., Guichard, J., Altavilla, G., Figer, A., Alessi, E.M., Tommei G.:
"Toward a physical characterization of the Soviet/Russian constellation of Molniya satellites", 2019, 1st International Orbital Debris Conference (IOC), Sugar Land/Houston, Texas (USA), Dec 9-12. |
We report on the extended 2014–17 observing campaign of the 43 surviving Soviet/Russian spacecraft Molniya.
Spectrophotometry and astrodynamical analysis have been carried out for all the dead payloads now in uncontrolled HEO orbit.
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Buzzoni, A., Altavilla, G., Fan, S., Frueh, C.,
Foppiani, I., Micheli, M., Nomen, J., Sànchez-Ortiz, N.:
"Physical characterization of the deep-space debris WT1190F: a testbed for advanced SSA techniques", 2019, Advances in Space Research, 63, 371 |
We report on extensive BVRcIc photometry and low-resolution (λ/Δλ ~ 250)
spectroscopy of the deep-space debris
WT1190F, which impacted Earth offshore from Sri Lanka, on 2015 November 13. In spite of its likely artificial origin
(as a relic of some past lunar mission), the case offered important points of discussion for its suggestive connection with
the envisaged scenario for a (potentially far more dangerous) natural impactor, like an asteroid or a comet.
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Buzzoni, A., Fan, S., Frueh, C., Altavilla, G., Foppiani, I., Micheli, M.,
Nomen, J., and Sanchez-Ortiz, N.:
"The puzzling case of the deep-space debris WT1190F: a test bed for advanced SSA techniques", 2018, Proc. of the Stardust Final Conference: Advances in Asteroids and Space Debris Engineering and Science. Eds. M. Vasile, E. Minisci, L. Summerer, P. McGinty. ESA Astrophys. & Space Science Proc., Vol. 52 (Springer: Berlin), 181 |
We report on somewhat unique photometric and spectroscopic observations of the deep-space
debris WT1190F. An analysis is in progress to assess the two prevailing
candidates to WT1190F's identity, namely the Athena II upper stage of the Lunar Prospector mission,
and the ascent stage of the Apollo 10 lunar module (LEM LM-4) "Snoopy", by comparing observations
with the synthetic photometry from accurate mock-up modeling and reflectance rendering.
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Annibali, F., Morandi, E., Watkins, L.L., Tosi, M., Aloisi, A., Buzzoni, A., Cusano, F., Fumana, M.,
Marchetti, A., Mignoli, M., Mucciarelli, A., Romano, D., van der Marel, R.P.:
"LBT/MODS spectroscopy of globular clusters in the irregular galaxy NGC 4449", 2018, MNRAS, 476, 1942 |
We present intermediate-resolution (R~1000) spectra in the ~3500-10000 Å range of 14 globular clusters
in the magellanic irregular galaxy NGC 4449 acquired with the Multi Object Double Spectrograph on
the Large Binocular Telescope. We derived Lick indices in the optical and the CaII-triplet index in the
near-infrared in order to infer the clusters' stellar population properties.
The inferred cluster ages are typically older than ~9 Gyr, although ages are derived with large uncertainties.
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Micheli, M., Buzzoni, A., Koschny, D., Drolshagen, G., Perozzi, E.,
Hainaut, O., Lemmens, S., Altavilla, G., Foppiani, I., Nomen, J.,
Sánchez-Ortiz, N., Marinello, W., Pizzetti, G., Soffiantini, A.,
Fan, S., Frueh, C.:
"The observing campaign on the deep-space debris WT1190F as a test case for short-warning NEO impacts", 2018, Icarus, 304, 4 |
On 2015 November 13, the small artificial object designated WT1190F entered the Earth
atmosphere above the Indian Ocean offshore Sri Lanka after being discovered as a possible
new asteroid only a few weeks earlier. At ESA's SSA-NEO Coordination Centre we took advantage
of this opportunity to organize a ground-based observational campaign, using WT1190F as a test
case for a possible similar future event involving a natural asteroidal body.
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Torres-Zafra, J., Cellone, S.A., Buzzoni, A., Andruchow, I., Portilla, J.G.:
"Redshift determination of the BL Lac object 3C 66A by the detection of its host galaxy cluster at z = 0.340", 2018, MNRAS, 474, 3162 |
The BL Lac object 3C 66A is one of the most luminous extragalactic sources at TeV-rays (VHE, i.e. E >100 GeV)
of unknown redshift. According to GEMINI observations we found spectroscopic evidence of two galaxy
groups along the blazar's line of sight: one at z~0.020 and a second one at z~0.340. The blazar’s spectrum
shows broad absorption features that we identify as arising in the intergalactic medium from a redshift
z3C66A < 0.33. As a consequence, we propose that 3C 66A is
hosted in a galaxy that belongs to a cluster at z = 0.340.
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Annibali, F., Tosi, M., Romano, D., Buzzoni, A., Cusano, F.,
Fumana, M., Marchetti, A., Mignoli, M., Pasquali, A., Aloisi, A.:
"Planetary Nebulae and HII Regions in the Starburst Irregular Galaxy NGC 4449 from LBT MODS Data", 2017, The Astrophysical Journal, 843, 20 |
We present deep 3500-10000 Å spectra of HII regions and planetary nebulae (PNe) in the
starburst irregular galaxy NGC 4449, acquired with the Multi Object Double Spectrograph at
the Large Binocular Telescope. Using the "direct" method, we derived the abundance of He, N, O, Ne,
Ar, and S in six H II regions and in four PNe in NGC 4449. This is the first case of PNe studied
in a starburst irregular outside the Local Group.
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Fan, S., Frueh, C., and Buzzoni, A.:
"A Light Curve Simulation of The Apollo Lunar Ascent Module", 2016, AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, AIAA SPACE Forum, (AIAA 2016-5504), Long Beach, California |
The deep-space debris WT1190F, which entered Earth atmosphere off the Sri Lanka coast, last
Nov 13, 2015, has been imposing to the worldwide SSA community as an outstanding opportunity to
effectively assess origin and physical nature of such extemporary impactors and appraise their
potential threat for Earth.
During the event, astrometric signature of the object was obtained from Loiano, Italy and DEIMOS,
Spain. As a primary candidate, generating the light curve of the long last Apollo 10 Lunar ascent
module (call sign “Snoopy”) is useful in terms of examining the confidence level of the candidate.
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Buzzoni, A., Altavilla, G., and Galleti, S.:
"Optical tracking of deep-space spacecraft in Halo L2 orbits and beyond: the Gaia mission as a pilot case", 2016, Advances in Space Research, 57, 1515 |
We tackle the problem of accurate optical tracking of distant man-made probes, on Halo orbit around
the Earth-Sun libration point L2 and beyond, along interplanetary transfers. The improved performance
of on-target tracking, especially when observing with small-class telescopes is assessed providing a
general estimate of the expected S/N ratio in spacecraft detection. The on-going Gaia mission is taken
as a pilot case for our analysis, reporting on fresh literature and original optical photometry and
astrometric results.
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Buzzoni, A.:
"Lick-index entanglement and biased diagnostic of stellar populations in galaxies", 2015, MNRAS, 449, 296 |
The Lick-index spectrophotometric system is investigated in its inherent statistical and operational
properties to ease a more appropriate use for astrophysical studies.
Among others, the perturbing effect of [OIII]5007 and [NI]5199 forbidden gas emission on Fe5015 and Mgb
absorption features is considered, and an updated correction scheme is proposed when using
[OIII]5007 as a proxy to appraise Hβ residual emission. When applied to present-day elliptical
galaxy population, the revised Hß scale leads, on average, to 20-30% younger age estimates.
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Carraro, G., Buzzoni, A., Bertone, E., and Buson, L.:
"UB CCD photometry of the old, metal rich, open clusters NGC 6791, NGC 6819 and NGC 7142", 2013, AJ, 146, 128 |
We report on a UV-oriented imaging survey in the fields of the old, metal-rich open clusters, NGC 6791,
NGC 6819 and NGC 7142. Following a first discussion of NGC 6791
observations in an accompanying paper, here, we complete our analysis, also presenting for NGC 6819 and
NGC 7142 the first-ever U CCD photometry. The color magnitude diagram of the three clusters is analyzed
in detail, with special emphasis to the hot stellar component. We report, in this regard, one new extreme
horizontal-branch star candidate in NGC 6791.
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Buzzoni, A., Bertone, E., Carraro, G., and Buson, L.:
"Stellar lifetime and ultraviolet properties of the old metal-rich Galactic open cluster NGC6791: a pathway to understand the UV upturn of elliptical galaxies", 2012, ApJ, 749, 35 |
The evolutionary properties of the old metal-rich Galactic open cluster NGC6791 are assessed, based on deep
UB photometry and 2Mass JK data. For 4739 stars in the cluster, bolometric luminosity and effective
temperature have been derived from theoretical (U-B) and (J-K) color fitting.
The cluster appears to be a fairly good proxy of standard elliptical galaxies, although with
significantly bluer infrared colors, a shallower 4000 Å Balmer break, and a lower Mg2
index.
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Buzzoni, A.:
"Energetic constraints to chemo-photometric evolution of spiral galaxies", 2011, MNRAS, 415, 1155 |
The problem of chemo-photometric evolution of late-type galaxies is dealt with relying on prime physical
arguments of energetic self-consistency between chemical enhancement of galaxy mass, through nuclear
processing inside stars, and luminosity evolution of the system. Chemical enhancement is assessed in terms of the so-called
"yield metallicity" (Z), that is the metal abundance of processed mass inside stars, as constrained by
the galaxy photometric history.
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Buzzoni, A., Patelli, L., Bellazzini, M., Fusi Pecci, F., & Oliva, E.:
"Bolometric correction and spectral energy distribution of cool stars in Galactic clusters", 2010, MNRAS, 403, 1592 |
We have investigated the relevant trend of the bolometric correction (BC) at the cool-temperature regime
of red giant stars and its possible dependence on stellar metallicity. Our analysis relies on a wide sample
of optical-infrared spectroscopic observations, along the 3500Å-2.5μm wavelength range, for a grid of 92
red giant stars in five (3 globular + 2 open) Galactic clusters, along the −2.2<[Fe/H]<+0.4
metallicity range.
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AB/Gen 2025 |
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