Moonwatch Telescope
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1956
notes: label: Description
content: Because scientists could not accurately predict the orbits of the new artificial satellites, volunteers were trained to scan the evening skies for new objects, and their observations, recorded on charts, were forwarded to the Moonwatch office for analysis.
label: Description
content: Multiple Moonwatch telescopes, each with its own observer, were used at locations around the country. Each observer in a group was assigned to watch a specific area of the sky, and the telescopes were designed to make this as easy and comfortable as possible. The telescopes were usually placed on a desk or table where the observers could sit comfortably.
label: Description
content: The Moonwatch telescopes had several unusual features. With low magnification and short length, they were designed to show an unusually large portion of the sky. The mounting of the telescope, which pointed down and viewed the sky through a mirror, prevented the observers from developing neck-aches (from looking up). The telescope also had an unusually wide eyepiece, which reduced eye fatigue.
label: Description
content: The Moonwatch program only lasted for a few years, but the contributions of its many amateur observers were important in the early days of space exploration.
label: Description
content: Ref: Patrick McCray, <i>Keep Watching the Skies! The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age</i> (Princeton, 2008).
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Sputnik
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content: Science & Mathematics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2007.0038.01
label: catalog number
content: 2007.0038.01
label: accession number
content: 2007.0038
objectType: label: Object Name
content: telescope
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 38.5 cm x 30.5 cm x 12 cm; 15 3/16 in x 12 in x 4 3/4 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 in x 12 in x 4 1/2 in; 38.1 cm x 30.48 cm x 11.43 cm