Sun outage for GEO links: When a geostationary satellite passes directly in front of the Sun (as seen from the Earth station), approximately how long and for how many days does the reception outage persist during each equinox season?

Introduction / Context:
Sun outages (Sun transits) occur near the equinoxes when the Sun aligns with the satellite and Earth station antenna, flooding the receiver with solar noise and causing temporary link loss. Engineers need an order-of-magnitude estimate for planning service advisories.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Geostationary satellite and parabolic Earth station antenna.
• Outage occurs around vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
• Daily events recur for several days, with the worst day near the center of the window.

Concept / Approach:

The Sun’s apparent path causes a few minutes of alignment each day for roughly 1–2 weeks per season, depending on latitude and antenna beamwidth. Typical outages are several minutes per day, not hours, and persist about ten or so consecutive days per season.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

Operational notices from satellite operators list Sun outage windows with growing and then shrinking daily durations, peaking near 5–10 minutes depending on station parameters.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• 10 minutes for 5 days or 30–60 minutes per day: duration too long or window too short.
• One hour: far exceeds typical solar noise alignment effects.

Common Pitfalls:

• Confusing total equinox season length with the peak daily outage minutes.

Final Answer:

5 minutes on 10 consecutive days