Instrumental and atmospheric corrections for the reduction of photographic plates taken with sidereally driven satellite cameras

Abstract

To obtain the direction of a vector from the earth towards a satellite with an accuracy of 0″.2 or better, some typical instrumental and atmospheric influences can no longer be ignored or neglected when reducing photograms taken with sidereally driven satellite cameras. The wobbling error and the permanent error of the camera pole axis, the starting delay and the systematic alternations of the rotation velocity as well as the influences of changes in the amount and in the direction of the astronomical refraction are discussed. Generally all these errors produce deformations of the satellite trail itself and in its relation to the background stars. However instrumental investigations and computations allow numerical corrections of the measured data and the elimination of all error influences, even with old data. The suggestions given refer to every model of a sidereally driven camera.