IOTA Meeting, Mt. Cuba Observatory, Delaware, 2006 Sept. 30-Oct. 1
Good Asteroidal Occultation in the area & points north after the meeting, Monday night Oct. 2 (Oct. 3 UT)
Updated: 2006 Sept. 28
The 2006 IOTA meeting will be held at Mt. Cuba Observatory in n.w. Delaware on Sat. pm, Sept. 30 and Sun. Oct. 1; all are welcome to attend. There will be some sessions to go over basic techniques of visual and video observation of different types occultations. Mt. Cuba Observatory is in the nearly north-south path of the Oct. 2nd Phocaea occultation. To locate the observatory, see the maps of different scales on the observatory's Web site here. The observatory is located on the northwest side of the Edgar M Hoopes Reservoir about 5 miles northwest of downtown Wilmington, Delaware. As you can see from the detailed map on the observatory's Web site, the observatory is just off of Hillside Mill Rd, a little southwest of its intersection with New London Rd. You can get directions by entering as the destination address "Hillside Mill Rd, Greenville, DE 19807" at a mapping site like www.mapsonus.com - you can also replace "Greenville" with "Wilmington". Also, for use with Google Earth and www.topozone.com, the coordinates of the observatory are long. 75.63336 deg. W., lat. 39.78431 deg. N., h 83m. Google Earth and Web sites such as www.bigbook.com can be used to find motels. Paul Maley and a few others have made reservations at the Fairfield Inn Christiana Mall 65 Geoffrey Drive Newark, Delaware 19713 which is near I-95. Its cost is $89/night. About the same distance but less expensive is Motel 6, I-295 at New Castle Avenue/SR 9, New Castle, DE 19720, phone (302) 571-1200, $46/night. I have made a reservation at the Comfort Inn, 100 Mcintosh Plaza, Newark, DE 19713, phone 302-453-9100; they have wifi and the price is $72 plus tax, near exit 3 (Route 273) from I-95. Fairly close to Mt. Cuba is the White House Bed & Breakfast, but it's $95-$125/night and it only has 4 rooms. The planned agenda is below; it can still be changed to reflect observer's wishes; especially, you are encouraged to add a presentation (long or brief) of your own. Sorry, it doesn't look like we will be able to webcast this meeting. Times are EDT: Saturday, Sept. 30 1:30 - 5 pm Welcome to Mt. Cuba Obs. - E. Volchek Introductions - all Brief history of IOTA - D. Dunham Observing Occultations, an updated version of my general talk on occultations, covering the basics of observing these events: - Different types of occultations - Methods of observation - visual, video, and others - Lunar occultations, total and grazing - Asteroidal occultations - Planetary occultations and eclipses Demonstation of using equipment to time/record occultations - Dunham Workshop - questions & answers not covered above Occultation Observer's Handbook - Dunham (for Povenmire & Robinson) IOTA Observer's Manual - R. Nugent Adjourn for dinner 8 pm - if clear, observe from the observatory, and/or its parking lot - get help to find the Phocaea occultation target star with your telescope. The weather forecast is iffy, about 60% clouds predicted by Accuweather, but Sunday is expected to be worse (maybe rain), so we will probably try to observe through breaks in the clouds unless it appears hopeless. Sunday, Oct. 1 9 am - noon IOTA business meeting financial report - Art Lucas, read by D. Dunham next year's elections - officers secretary/treasurer work now being migrated from Art Lucas to Chad Ellington in Washington state - D. Dunham Homer F. DaBoll award - proposed, D. Dunham Other business Meetings in 2007 & 2008 [2008 is tentatively planned for the Lewis Research Center in Apple Valley, Calif. (where we met in 2004) around an occultation of a 6th-mag. star by 9 Metis predicted to occur there on Sept. 12] Technical agenda modifications? Solar eclipse radius determination 2006 update - D. Dunham Recording occultations at multiple sites - D. Dunham General - previous presentation 2005 Dec. 1 Dike, double star occ'n recorded from 3 sites 2006 June 12 Pallas, recorded from 4 sites by R. Venable El Nath graze results, 2006 September 14 1:30 - 5:30 pm Solar Eclipses, 2006 Sept. and 2008 - P. Maley IOTA: Defining New Worlds (for General Audiences) Vibilia Occultations - G. Nason & D. Dunham August, Washington & Alberta August, Ontario September, California September, southwestern Europe May 5th occultation of 16 Piscium by (7) Iris - B. Thompson Observing Asteroid Occultations: A Personal Status 2006 - P. Maley Plans and predictions for occultations during the rest of 2006 and 2007 - - Grazes during the rest of 2006 (Taygeta Oct. 9/10, etc.) - Asteroidal occultations during the rest of 2006 - Grazes during 2007 (Taygeta June 13, TX; Mar. 3 lunar eclipse; Regulus events) - Asteroidal occultations during 2007 Jan. 26 occultation of 32 Lyncis by (372) Palma from Delmarva to n. Calif., etc., all but Oct. 2nd Phocaea. Update and plans for the October 2nd Phocaea occultation 8 pm - There will probably be no observing due to poor weather; check out your equipment for the Phocaea occultation at home or in your motel room. Monday, Oct. 2 Only if the weather forecast is reasonably good somewhere in the Phocaea occultation path in the USA (the Accuweather forecast is promising), and only then if needed (to get final weather info., etc.), will we convene again in the morning or very early afternoon for finalizing plans to observe the Phocaea occultation; some observers will have already left to return to home, or near-home, locations to observe the event. The decision on a Monday meeting will be made at the end of the Sunday afternoon session. 8:53 pm - occultation of 8.8-mag. SAO 108610 by (25) Phocaea, Delaware, w. New Jersey, e. Pennsylvania, & central New York. The forecast looks good from Delmarva to southern New York, but poor to iffy in northern New York - Guy Nason, you might want to bring portable equipment and be prepared to observe this from the USA. Registration-- There is no charge, but please notify me of your intent to attend to help with planning the best meeting for you. Known or probable attendees are listed below; hopefully there will be a few more. I give cell phone numbers where known to help keep in touch with each other. David Dunham, MD, 301-526-5590 Paul Maley, TX (probably Sunday only) Richard Nugent, TX, 832-755-4447 Guy Nason, Ontario Emil Volchek, DE Greg Lee, DE Harry Shipman?, DE Cliff Bader, PA John Kmetz, PA Wayne Warren, MD, 301-518-5754 Don Gardner, MD, Sunday only Mike Chesnes?, MD, Sunday only Jose Guzman?, MD, 301-213-8647 Harry Bates?, PA Ken Coles, PA Bruce Thompson, NY Sorry if I forgot someone; in any case, we look forward to seeing you in Delaware! David Dunham, 2006 September 28, 11 pm EDT Phones home 301-474-4722; office 240-228-5609; car 301-526-5590 emails dunham@starpower.net or office david.dunham@jhuapl.edu