The Addictive Properties of Occultations (Abstract)

Volume 37 number 2 (2009)

John Menke

Abstract

(Abstract only) Observing asteroid occultations is challenging and rewarding—and is addictive! Techniques are evolving rapidly, with almost monthly contributions to the field. While the predictions of occultations are frequently accurate to a few seconds and a few tens of miles, there are still many challenges of location, weather, equipment, and data analysis that make every observation effort unique. In this paper, we discuss why occultations are useful to observe and how one finds out when/where occultations will occur. We consider the theory of the observation and the pros and cons of the different methods of observing. We also consider other applications of the observing methods used in occultation work.