<p>The Astronomy meta question <a href="https://astronomy.meta.stackexchange.com/q/715/7982">Should we have an observation-campaign tag and what is good usage advice for it?</a> lists about 13 example questions where the tag might apply. There are several answers that evoke the term here as well, but tags go on questions (primarily).</p>
<p>In it I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My understanding is that it is anything between a rally for amateur observers to try to photograph something to a highly coordinated and preplanned observing plan for ground and space observatories and facilities, but that's just my impression.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A &quot;star party&quot; is not an observational campaign because the primary goals are outreach, fun, and general Astronomy education. A campaign would be a targeted and to some extent coordinated effort, at least to the extent that it was announced and described ahead of time. It could certainly <em>involve</em> amateur astronomers or even the public, but it would still presumably have at least some research or scientific goal,</p>
<p><strong>Question(s):</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Is an &quot;observation campaign&quot; well recognized thing in Astronomy?</li>
<li>Is it self-declared? Do people just come up with them and announce them?</li>
<li>Are there standard ways to announce or coordinate them?</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T16:59:15.447Z
My 50 cents: For movable equipment like SOFIA there are definitely campaigns. Also for sites which require a big team working together to be able to measure like AMANDA in Antarctia. Also at ESO for dedicated project weeks where a group of scientists flies over to co-locate and works with a clear goal on a well-defined scope, e.g. calibrating a primary mirror.
B--rian
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T17:03:33.690Z
@B--rian are there examples of multi-site campaigns, where for example several distant observatories coordinate to provide continuous coverage of a target as the Earth rotates them one-by-one into favorable position?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T18:36:50.077Z
Observing campaigns occur regularly for Solar System objects e.g. https://iawn.net/obscamp/Apophis/ There have also been regular campaigns for long period exoplanet transits, pulsating white dwarfs (see Whole Earth Telescope) and eclipsing binaries
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T23:06:47.960Z
@astrosnapper the second link in [Is there a collection or list of all planned observations of 99942 Apophis during its 2021 close pass to Earth?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/43190/7982) references lawn.net but since I couldn't find an actual list that wasn't empty I wasn't sure if the site is what I'd thought it was. Should I expect a list of radio and optical observations there?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T23:13:51.153Z
Top link of https://iawn.net/obscamp/Apophis/apophis_obs.shtml has this but it's self reported and likely not kept uptodate
astrosnapper
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-30T23:16:07.153Z
@astrosnapper okay got it, yes `Last updated: Friday October 09, 2020`
uhoh
<observational-astronomy><amateur-observing><observation-campaign>
Is an "observation campaign" well recognized thing in Astronomy? Is it self-declared? Are there standard ways to announce or coordinate?
uhoh
# Is an "observation campaign" well recognized thing in Astronomy? Is it self-declared? Are there standard ways to announce or coordinate?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-03-30)

The Astronomy meta question [Should we have an observation-campaign tag and what is good usage advice for it?](https://astronomy.meta.stackexchange.com/q/715/7982) lists about 13 example questions where the tag might apply. There are several answers that evoke the term here as well, but tags go on questions (primarily).

In it I wrote:

> My understanding is that it is anything between a rally for amateur observers to try to photograph something to a highly coordinated and preplanned observing plan for ground and space observatories and facilities, but that's just my impression.

A "star party" is not an observational campaign because the primary goals are outreach, fun, and general Astronomy education. A campaign would be a targeted and to some extent coordinated effort, at least to the extent that it was announced and described ahead of time. It could certainly *involve* amateur astronomers or even the public, but it would still presumably have at least some research or scientific goal,

**Question(s):**

1. Is an "observation campaign" well recognized thing in Astronomy?
2. Is it self-declared? Do people just come up with them and announce them?
3. Are there standard ways to announce or coordinate them?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, amateur-observing, observation-campaign

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: My 50 cents: For movable equipment like SOFIA there are definitely campaigns. Also for sites which require a big team working together to be able to measure like AMANDA in Antarctia. Also at ESO for dedicated project weeks where a group of scientists flies over to co-locate and works with a clear goal on a well-defined scope, e.g. calibrating a primary mirror.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 are there examples of multi-site campaigns, where for example several distant observatories coordinate to provide continuous coverage of a target as the Earth rotates them one-by-one into favorable position?  
> **username_2**: Observing campaigns occur regularly for Solar System objects e.g. https://iawn.net/obscamp/Apophis/ There have also been regular campaigns for long period exoplanet transits, pulsating white dwarfs (see Whole Earth Telescope) and eclipsing binaries  
> **username_0**: @username_2 the second link in [Is there a collection or list of all planned observations of 99942 Apophis during its 2021 close pass to Earth?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/q/43190/7982) references lawn.net but since I couldn't find an actual list that wasn't empty I wasn't sure if the site is what I'd thought it was. Should I expect a list of radio and optical observations there?  
> **username_2**: Top link of https://iawn.net/obscamp/Apophis/apophis_obs.shtml has this but it's self reported and likely not kept uptodate  
> **username_0**: @username_2 okay got it, yes `Last updated: Friday October 09, 2020`  

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