Atmospheric Refraction of Light from Nearby Objects in Space

Abstract

This note describes a minor issue in computing astronomical refraction, which is that refraction depends on the distance of the observed object, at least for objects very close to the Earth. In practice, the effect is important mainly for optical observations of satellites in low Earth orbit, but even for them, the difference in refraction amounts to only a few arcseconds. If the usual algorithms for astronomical refraction (for objects at infinity) are used, simple correction formulas are available for the nearby objects.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 10, 2014
Accession Number
AD1094247

Entities

People

  • G. H. Kaplan

Organizations

  • United States Naval Observatory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Atmospheres
  • Atmospheric Refraction
  • Celestial Navigation
  • Earth Orbits
  • Equations
  • Geometry
  • Line Of Sight
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Measurement
  • Models
  • Observers
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Sea Level
  • Solar System

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy/Astrophysics
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Space Objects