Operation Moonwatch

Moonwatch was the name of the program for observation of artificial earth satellites, which was founded by Fred Whipple of the Smithsonian Institution around 1957 and lasted until about 1980.

The program was aimed at amateur astronomers around the world and supported it with data, and partly also with measuring instruments to determine difficult to be observed by satellite precise orbital elements can.

In the early 1970s, several hundred groups worked with the monitoring program, including about 15 in Germany and 3 in Austria. The measurements were the basis of many scientific investigations, in particular satellites with low perigee, so called "Low Perigee Objects". Such bodies can hardly be photographed from satellite cameras, as they are only visible in the twilight.

The accuracy of the measurements was tested by means of some satellites with stable orbits and was - depending on the equipment and experience of the observer - at 10 " up to about 5 'Part watched with binoculars against the star background, another with theodolite - like instruments to. . program was temporarily also the observation of the satellite re-entries into Earth's atmosphere.

• Astronomical organization