On: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory

[baq]

Not every hobbyist had access to 1m+ mirrors, though. I imagine you could take a reasonably revealing picture of eg an Orion: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(satellite)

[DoctorOetker → baq]

I don't understand this thread. Sure with enough effort and manpower you can prevennt your own civilians from discovering these. How would the US government stop civilian entities in say Russia or China from discovering these? I still see a marginal potential utility though: not showing adversaries that you have noticed their satellites (in order to prevent them from improving their stealth).

[hindsightbias → baq]

People have done a lot with less than 1m.

http://www.satobs.org/telescope.html

https://satelliteobservation.net/2017/04/20/observing-satell...

[adwi → baq]

I gasped when I read their main antenna is 330’ wide.