t Occuttau'on3Newsteuer Volume V, Number 7 May, 1992 ISBN 0737-6766 Occultation Newsletter is published by the International Occultation Timing Association. Editor: Joan Bixby Dunham; 7006 Megan Lane; Greenbelt, MD 20770-3012; U.S.A. Please send editorial matters to the above. Send new and renewal memberships and subscriptions, back issue requests, address changes, graze prediction requests, reimbursement requests, special requests, and other IOTA business, but not observation reports, to: Craig and Terri McManus; 1177 Collins; Topeka, KS 66604-1524; U.S.A. FROM THE PUBLISHER IOTA NEWS For subscription purposes, this is the David W. Dunham first issue of 1992. It is the seventh issue of Volume 5. IOTA annual member- ESOP XI: The 11th European Symposium ship dues, includin© ON and supplements on Occultation projects will be held at for U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico $25.00 Castle Gondolpho, Rome, Italy, August 28- '~ for all others 30.00 30, 1992. The best grazing occultation in Annual IOTA membership dues may be Europe during 1992 will occur that week, paid by check drawn on an American on Monday morning, August 24th, about bank, money order, cash, or by charge to 2/3rds of the way from Rome to Naples; Visa or MasterCard. If you use Visa or the star is 2.8-magnitude Mu Geminorurn MasterCard, include your account number, (Tejat) and the graze will occur on the the expiration date, and your signature. dark side near the north cusp of the 22% ON subscription (I year " 4 issues) sunlit waning moon. The IOTA/USNO total for U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico 20.00 occultation predictions for 1993 for Euro- for all others 25.00 pean observers may be distributed to Single issues are 1/4 of the price shown. national coordinators at the meeting, as Although tbey are available to IOTA mbers without ¢baue, they were done for 1992 at ESOP X in D000egber6 nust pay for these itens: Hannover last August (QN. S, #5, p. 109). Local eirmstaoee (asteroidal appulse) predietioos 1,00 Those wishing to give a presentation at, Craze lieit and prof lie predictim (per jrue) 1.50 or otherwise suggest something for the Papers explaioiu the use of the predictioos 2.50 agenda of, ESOP-XI should contact Asteroidal occdtatioo supplenem will be available at extra coSt: IOTA/ES president Hans Bode, Bartold- for South Anerica via Ipacio Ferrio (Apartado 100: Kerida 5101"A; Knaust-Str. 8, D-W-3000 Hannover 91, Yeoezuela), for Europe via Rolaod hoiosuu (Rue dc Karie6urg, 33; Germany, telephone 49-511-424696. For ~ E-6381 POURBIS; Belgiun) or 10TAjB$ (see below), for mthem Africa more information, contact the ESOP XI via L D. Overbeek (Box 212; Bdemle 1610; Republic of South Africa), organizer, Dr. Claudio Costa; Viale CoRi for Australia ad Kev Zealand via Craliaa Blov (LO. Box 2241; Portuensi, 345; 1-00151 Roma, Italy; tele- ¶ellium, Bew Zealaod), aod for Japao via 7odiio Hirose (1"13 phones 39-6-4451105 (home) or -43602520 Shinouruko 1"chone; 0ta"ku, Toijo 146, Japao). Supplaeots for all (office) or -4131133 (fax); E-mail (Inter- other areas will be available from Jie Stan {117891 K, joi Drive; net): Tucson, AZ 85131; 11,S.A,) for $2.50. specola_vat%[email protected]. Observers fron Burope aod the British ides 6hould joio IOTA/BS, IOTA/ES Astrometry Meeting: A meeting seodiog OK 40,-- to the accouot IoTAjls; Bartold-hiut Strasse g; on asteroidal occultation astrometry will 3000 hnoover 91; Postgiro Hanover 555 829 - 303; lmk-ede-oaber be held on Sunday, May 17, in Hannover, (Baokleitzahl) 250 100 30, Germany; contact Hans Bode, phone 49- 511-424696, for more information. The 153 T 0 t C 154 . meeting will be mainly led by Mike Kret- A'Hearn's help, to obtain an invitation low; see his and D. Boehme's article, "Last from the Astronomy Program at the Uni- Minute Astrornetry Network", in this issue. versity of Maryland in College Park. He IOTA Meetinq: The next (1Oth) annual arrived at the end of February and will meeting of the International Occultation be here for 6 months. Dr. Qian has pho- Timing Association will probably be held toelectrically recorded lunar occultations, Saturday, 1992 October 3, in the Houston, and one asteroidal occultation, at Shanghai Texas, area, See p. 129 of the last issue, Observatory. Shanghai Observatory has especially about two grazes that occur the two portable 20-cm telescopes, which they evening of October 1st (Don Stockbauer used for recording Bailey's beads from notes that there will probably not be time both limits of the 1987 September annular to travel between the two paths to ob- eclipse, and which can be used for lunar serve both of them, and the 44 Ophiuchi grazing and asteroidal occultationsµ They ', graze will occur at such low altitude that also have astroinetric telescopes, including a site at least 100 miles southwest of a 155-cm reflector similar to USNO's 61- Houston may be needed to observe it). inch near Flagstaff, AZ, which has ob- The location of the meeting has not yet tained the most accurate astrometry for been determined, but it and the meeting asteroidal and planetary occultations to date and time will be announced in the date. So a major purpose of Dr. Qian's next issue. The local coordinator will be visit is to obtain copies of rny programs_ Paul Maley; 11815 Lone Hickory Ct.; Hous- for calculating right ascension and decli- i ton, TX 77059; U.S.A.; telephone 1-713- nation residuals from astroinetric observa- 4886871; E-mail (Decnet) sn::rnaley. tions, and computing improved asteroidal Reportinq Occultation Observations on occultation paths from these updates. Diskette: Timings of both total and graz- This gives further motive for me to make ing lunar occultations can be reported to these programs transportable to small the International Lunar Occultation Center computers, which I need to do soon any- (ILOC) in Tokyo in ASCII files on floppy way for other reasons. Dr. Qian also is disks, using the format and instructions interested in videorecording occultations given in my article, "Let's Report Occulta- with portable equipment, and he has tion Timings on Diskettes", in ,O,N. S, #5, already seen this first-hand. pp. 92-97. Doing this eliminates possible IAU Commission 20: The report by L. keypunch errors at ILOC and speeds up Wasserman, chairman of Commission 20's the return of timing residuals to you. workin© group on occultations (by Solar One change is that we no longer have the System objects other than the Moon), was Apple II+ computer, so that we can no read at the International Astronomical longer perform the conversion specified in Union's General Assembly held in August the article; all diskettes sent to ILOC in Buenos Aires. During the past 3 years, should be IBhf-cornpatible. Diskettes will major events noted involved Titan, 4 _ not be returned by ILOC unless request- Vesta, 9 Metis, 216 Kleopatra, 381 Myrrha, ed; also, I understand that, upon request, and 521 Brixia; IOTA had heavy involve- the residuals can also be returned on ment with each of these occultations. Lief diskette, if large numbers of timings are Kristensen announced that he would need involved. to leave the working group, so a new Visit by ShaWhai Observatory Astrono- European member is needed. Wayne War- ne,r,:. Dr. Qian Bochen, from Shanghai ren represented IOTA's interest at the Observatory, obtained funding from the meeting. Chinese Academy of Sciences to stay in Unusual Telescopes is the title of IOTA the U.S.A. to work with IOTA. IOTA does- member Peter Manly's new 200-page book n't have any office space or other assets published by Cambridge University Press, to support such a visit directly. Ar- 40 West 20th st., New York, NY 10011-4211. rangements were made, with Prof. Michael Some of the designs were influenced by G .g 155 especially for portability. GRAZING OCCULTATION REDUCTION Meta Research Bulletin vol. 1, #1 was PROFILES issued in mid-Nfarch. Tom Van Flandern, leader of last July's successful Eclipse We have received reduction profiles Edge expedition to Mexico, is the editor of from Bob Sandy of several grazes ob- this new publication, which seeks to served during the last few years. Some support and encourage research "into of the better events are reproduced on astronomical theories which are in accord the next pages. Unlike the ACLPPP pre- with observations and experiment, add diction profiles, where the paths seen by insight or understanding, and make test- the observers are horizonal lines across able predictions; but which are not other- the charts, these reduction profiles are wise supported because they lie outside of draw n with the Moon' s mean limb as a the mainstream of theories in astronomy." horizontal line, so that the paths followed The first issue includes articles about a by the observers are curved. possible natural satellite of Phobos photo- Profiles are included for grazes of ZC graphed by the Soviet Phobos-2 probe 1465 on June 17, 1991 and ZC 3186, ob- and an analysis of the apparent lack of served on October I, 1990. Both of these satellites in the first Galileo photos of 951 were observed in Kansas and Missouri. Gaspra. The quarterly bulletin is avail- Also included is a plot of the Alcyone able for $25/year from Meta Research, graze of October 25, 1991 published in the Inc.; P.O. Box 15186; Chevy Chase, MD Royal Astronomical Soc. of New Zealand 20815; U.S.A. Occultation Section circular of April, 1992.