Prairie Meteorite Network
Encyclopedia
The Prairie Meteorite Network was a system of sixteen camera stations in Midwestern United States
, run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
in 1970s-1980s. The network used surplus aerocameras with 6.3-12 inch focal length
wide angle metrogon
lenses that covered a format of 9 x 18 inches on aero roll film. During ten years of network's activity only one meteorite fall was recorded, the Lost City meteorite in 1970.
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, run by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it is joined with the Harvard College Observatory to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics .-History:The SAO was founded in 1890 by...
in 1970s-1980s. The network used surplus aerocameras with 6.3-12 inch focal length
Focal length
The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light. For an optical system in air, it is the distance over which initially collimated rays are brought to a focus...
wide angle metrogon
Metrogon
Metrogon is a high resolution, low-distortion, extra-wide field photographic lens design, popularized by Bausch and Lomb. Variations of this design are said to have been used extensively by the US military for use in aerial photography on the T-11 camera .The most common Metrogon lenses have a f...
lenses that covered a format of 9 x 18 inches on aero roll film. During ten years of network's activity only one meteorite fall was recorded, the Lost City meteorite in 1970.