UNIDIR Workshop, May 22-23 2024, Online

SETI/Unistellar Citizen Science Network:
Toward a Decentralized Digital Telescope
NetworkFranck Marchis
Chief Science Officer and co-founder at UnistellarHQ in Marseille
Office in San Francisco

Usefulfor Science

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ProductPrice range : $2,500-$4500 US

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EducativeDevice

2"Come for the pretty pictures, Stay for the Science"

Whirlpool Galaxy

Comet Atlas (2020)

Eagle nebula +Pillars of creation

Unistellar

Citizen Science• eVscopes••••

Control with phone app
Autonomous field detection
Real time stacking
Aperture: 114 mm• Network > 10,000 eVscopes• Science Campaigns:
•••
•
•
•

Occultations
Exoplanets
Planetary Defense
CometsTransients
Satellites <- NEW!

Official Partner

+Google – Sept 8 2022

Impact of DART into Dimorphos

Observer: DRACO
Location: DART Spacecraft
Date: September 26, 2022

Impact of DART into Dimorphos

Observer: Bruno Payet (eVscope)
Location: Réunion Island
Date: September 26, 2022

9 professionalscientists
31 citizen
scientists
4 observationsof impact

Satellite Constellations: A New
Problem>80,000 satellites in 2036!

• Increased risk of collisions: More satellites in orbit
raise the possibility of catastrophic collisions, creating debris fields
and hindering future space activities.

• Space debris problem: Even minor collisions ormalfunctions can generate debris, further increasing collision risks
and posing threats to existing satellites and spacecraft.

• Astronomical interference: Large constellations ofsatellites can obstruct the view of the night sky, impactingastronomical observations and potentially hindering scientificdiscoveries.

• Radio frequency congestion: As the number of
Now OneWeb, soon Kuiper and more…

satellites grows, competition for limited radio frequencies
intensifies, potentially disrupting communication and navigation
services.

• Policy and regulation challenges: The rapid growthof the satellite population outpaces existing regulations, creating
challenges for managing space traffic and ensuring long-termsustainability.

Satellite Constellations: TheSolution?
Data

Analysis

Identification, Brightness, location,…

Citizen astronomers, professional telescopes, established networks,…

Results

Orbits, Close encounter, safe orbits,…

A Marketplace for the Universe
SkyLabSoftware Dev
GovernancePartnership

Observers

datadata

Unistellar Network
Amateur Astronomers
Professional Observatories

New Space Industry

SkyMappera Marketplace for Astronomy
Map the Universe and Safeguard
Earth Space environment

Universities
Research Institutes
Governmental Organizations

Astronomical Archives

Observers

Customers

acquisition

Scheduler
Anonymous requests

requests

Customers

Conclusion§ Unistellar revolutionizes astronomy with user-friendly telescopes.
§ Our telescopes can be used for Space Situational Awareness§ More monitoring is essential to characterize and verify space activity§ We envision an accessible, decentralized astronomy marketplaceprioritizing data integrity and affordability, called SkyMapper.
§ Your inputs & your thoughts?

@AllPlanets
email: fmarchis@seti.org