EXPLANATION OF IOTA/ILOC LUNAR OCCULTATION OBSERVATION REPORT FORM
E-mail 76 format, 1995 August 31; last update 1996 June 21;
electronic file prepared by Wayne H. Warren Jr. & David W. Dunham, IOTA
Minor address and asteroidal occultation updates, 2008 May 12
This is the new E-mail 76 format, which is a little different from the 78-
character-per-line format described in the June 1995 issue of Occultation
Newsletter (ON). The new format is necessary because some e-mail systems
support messages with only 76 characters per line. David has provided ILOC
with a conversion program to convert the new files back to the 80-column
disk format that they need. The new 76 format was announced in the 1995
December issue of ON. The ZC 885 example in E-mail 76 format is given in a
separate message, and can be used as a template for typing your report.
Some other notes about the ON article will be given in the second message.
Unlike the ON article, this is intended to be a reasonably complete
description of all columns of the form, so that those using it should not
need the printed explanations that are distributed with the printed forms.
Completed forms should be sent to:
International Lunar Occultation Centre (ILOC) coordinator:
e-mail iloc@jodc.go.jp - for total and grazing occultation reports.
International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) graze coordinator:
Mitsuru Soma, e-mail Mitsuru.Soma@nao.ac.jp - grazing occultation
reports only (for grazes, it's best to send only to Dr. Soma and ask
him to forward the report to ILOC; Dr. Soma does his own analysis
and will help correct any errors or discrepancies he might find in
your report).
Starting with observations made in 2009 and later years, IOTA will
be collecting and processing the observations rather than ILOC. The
forms and procedures for reporting lunar occultations to IOTA are
nearing completion in an effort led by David Herald in Canberra,
Australia, DRHerald@bigpond.net.au . When the IOTA forms and
procedures are ready, they will be posted on IOTA's lunar
occultation Web site at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota .
But for now, for observations made in 2008 and during previous
years, you are encouraged to use this form and report the
observations to ILOC (and to Dr. Soma for grazes), as described
above.
The addresses above are new and supercede those given in the ON article.
The information here is more up-to-date and, in cases of differences,
supercedes that given in the ON articles.
Occultations by objects other than the Moon: For North America,
Brad Timerson, reports@asteroidoccultation.com . For reporting
asteroidal occultation and appulse observations, we encourage use of
the forms that you can find at
http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/Forms/AsteroidReportForms.html
For reporting asteroidal occultation observations made outside of
North America, see the links at the top of
http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/ . Observations of
occultations of stars by airless satellites of the major planets are
treated like asteroidal occultations. Generally more difficult to
observe and rarer are occultations of stars by major planets and by
satellites with atmospheres; they are treated specially and should
be reported either to Bruno Sicardy at Paris Observatory,
Bruno.Sicardy@obspm.fr or to David Dunham, IOTA, dunham@starpower.net
REPORT EXPLANATION
Lower-case letters can now be used in the reports, although it is
recommended that capital letters be used for the key letters indicating new
positions and observers, and capital letters MUST be used at the start of
lines and in the columns for the station code in all lines, and for several
other items, as noted below.
Blank rows may be left between major blocks (optional).
The information for this explanation file has been combined from the ILOC
"Use of form for recording occultation observations" and the ILOC "GUIDE TO
LUNAR OCCULTATION OBSERVATIONS (1982 March edition)". Some newer informa-
tion has been added from David Dunham's article in ON, 6, 148 (1995 June).
In general, if a specified decimal point does not control the location of a
numerical value, integer numbers should be right-justified, so that the
units position is in the right-most position of the field, the tens are in
the 2nd from the right, hundreds in the 3rd position from the right, etc.
So the number "123", for a 5-position field, -----, would be entered --123,
NOT 123--. Alphabetic or alphameric information should in general be left-
justified, starting in the left-most position of the field. Use capital
letters for quantities in quotes ("Literal") when they are capitalized.
Line 1
1-10 Literal "PLACE NAME"
16-76 Place of observation Name of closest city or town
Line 2
1- 7 Literal "ADDRESS"
16-76 Address Address of "representative" or observer
Line 3
1- 7 Literal "E-MAIL ADDRESS"
16-76 Address Internet Electronic Mail Address of
"representative" or observer
Line 4
1-14 Literal "REPRESENTATIVE"
16-50 Name Name of "representative" or observer;
expedition leader or report preparer
for grazing occultations. For graze
expedition organizer, columns 16-35 will
be used for the Occultation Newsletter
summary, unless a separate designation
for this is given in a 2nd graze line;
see the end of this description.
51-64 Literal "FORMS REQUIRED"
71-73 Yes/no "YES" or " NO" (right-justified)
Line 5
1-11 Literal "REPORTED TO"
16-76 Organization or person to Such as ILOC, IOTA, J. Stamm, others
which the report is sent
Line 6 (ONLY for occultations by objects other than the Moon)
1- 6 Literal "OBJECT"
16-19 Number (if asteroid) Right-justify the number; leave blank if
the asteroid is not numbered
21-76 Name or designation Left-justify, start in col. 21
Although, by specifying line 6, this form can be used to report occultations
of stars by other Solar System objects, it is better, especially for
asteroidal occultations, to use IOTA's simpler Asteroidal Occultation
Report Form, which can also be sent by e-mail, for this purpose.
Telescopes and Positions
1 Always the letter "T" (must be capital T).
2 Identifying letter, starting with "A", a capital letter corresponding
to the small letters used in the heading and the "T" column of the
written form. Telescopes and positions A through Z can be used. Use
two or more files if there are more than 26 telescopes (stations) in
the expedition.
3 Telescope type (R refractor; N Newtonian reflector; C Cassegrain,
including Schmidt-Cassegrain; O other (use capital letters); describe
on a second line with the same letters in columns 1 and 2, columns 3-
5 blank, and the description in columns 6-76.
4 Telescope mounting (capital E equatorial; capital A altazimuth)
5 Telescope drive (capital D clock driven; capital M manual)
6-10 Telescope aperture in centimeters to 0.1cm. Columns 9-10 can be
blank if the aperture is to the nearest cm only. The decimal point
must be in column 9 if tenths of a cm are given.
12-17 Telescope focal length, in cm, to 0.1cm. Columns 16-17 can be blank
if the focal length is given only to the nearest cm. The decimal
point must be in column 16 if tenths of a cm are given.
20-22 Degrees of longitude from Greenwich.
24-25 Minutes of arc of longitude
27-31 Seconds of arc of longitude; hundredths of an arcsecond can be
specified, but tenths are sufficient (then column 31 can be blank).
The decimal point must be in column 29.
33 Longitude east (E) or west (W) of Greenwich; use capital letters
36-37 Degrees of latitude
39-40 Minutes of arc of latitude
42-46 Seconds of arc of latitude, with the decimal point in column 44,
similar to seconds of arc of longitude
48 Latitude North of (N) or South of (S) the equator; capital letters
49-54 Height above mean sea level, in meters, to 0.1m; should be accurate
to +/-30m or better. Columns 53 and 54 can be blank if the height is
given to the nearest meter. If tenths of a meter are specified, the
decimal point must be in column 53. The thousands of meters number
must be in col. 49 (0 or blank if the height is less than 1000
meters), the hundreds must be in col. 50, the tens must be in col.
51, and the units must be in col. 52.
55-66 Name or abbreviation of geodetic datum, or other type of coordinates.
67-71 ILOC station code, if known; use only capital letters.
72-76 ILOC telescope code, if known.
Observers and Recorders
Names of observers and assistants given at the top of the reverse side of
the printed form. Not necessary to specify if ILOC has assigned
Station/Tel/Obs/Rec codes for this particular combination.
1 Always the letter "O" (must be capital O).
2 Identifying letter, starting with "A", a capital letter corresponding
to the small letters used on the printed form. Letters A-Z can be
used, thus accommodating up to 26 observers and assistants in one
file.
5-30 The observer or recorder's (assistant's) name.
33-37 ILOC station code, if known; use only capital letters.
38-41 ILOC observer code, if known.
43-47 Estimated accuracy of latitude (seconds of arc).
Timings
All of the event timings, including graze data and any total occultations
that might be observed before and after the graze, are recorded in this
section, one line per event (including start and end observing lines).
1- 2 Sequential number of the event recorded on the form. Total
occultation events can be merged in with graze events and assigned
appropriate sequence numbers determined by whether they occurred
before or after a graze sequence. The sequential numbers must be
right-justified, corresponding to the numbers printed on the left
side of ILOC's form for written timings. You are not limited to 20
lines, as on the written form; you can include up to 99 timings in
one e-mail file. Use 2 or more files to report 100 or more timings.
[It is important that both columns 1 and 2 be filled with numbers;
there must not be any blanks. So for timing numbers 1 to 9, a "0"
(zero) is necessary in col. 1.] For the data in columns 1 to 53 of
the written form (column numbers given at the top of the table), add
2 to the written-form column number to obtain the corresponding
column in the e-mail file; details are given below.
3-17 UT date and time, in format YYMMDDHHMMSSSSS, where the decimal point
in S occurs between columns 14 and 15.
18 Catalog code for star identification (must be capital letter: R,
Robertson Zodiacal Catalog; X, USNO XZ (XZ80 series or XZ94D; D, DM
catalogs; A, AGK3; K, USNO K-catalog; P, Eichhorn Pleiades (P)
catalog; L, USNO L-catalog; Q, USNO Q-catalog; F, FK5/FK5 Extension;
M, PPM Catalog; S, SAO Catalog; O other, specify in the comments).
19-25 Star identifier. Numbers should be right justified except in the
zone-catalog (DM, or Durchmusterung; AGK3) IDs, where the zone is
given in columns 19-21 (example +19, -00, -22). Due to possible
confusion explained in the next sentences, DM numbers should not be
used when another identifier is available. CD (Cordoba DM) numbers
can exceed 9999 in zones -22 through -30, in which case the leading
"1" should be omitted. If DM numbers are used in zones -18 through -
23, the correct DM (SD, CD, CP) should be specified in comments,
since SD (southern extension of the BD) and CP (Cape Photographic)
can exist in zones -18 through -23, while all three identifiers exist
in zones -22 and -23. This should also be specified for the -2 deg.
zone, where there may be confusion between BD and SD numbers.
26-30 ILOC Station code if one has been assigned by ILOC; if an ILOC
station code has not been assigned, leave this blank. Capital
letters must be used.
31-32 ILOC Telescope identifier (see 26-30).
33-34 ILOC Observer identifier (see 26-30).
35-36 ILOC Recorder (assistant) identifier (see 26-30). Can be left blank if
both observer and recorder are the same person.
37 Phenomenon (1 disappearance[D] at dark limb; 2 reappearance[R] at
dark limb; 3 D at sunlit feature; 4 R at sunlit feature; 5 D in Umbra
during a lunar eclipse; 6 R in umbra during a lunar eclipse; 7 blink;
8 flash; 9 miss [no occultation]; 0 other [specify in col. 37 or in
comments]). For gradual events (see col. 56), col. 37 disappearance
is end of disappearance and reappearance is start of reappearance.
38-39 Method of timing and recording (MR). Can be one or a combination of
two from the following. Column 39 is blank if only one method is
chosen. (use capital letters: P photoelectric; K key-tapping; S
stopwatch; E eye and ear; X chronograph; T tape recorder; C camera
and clock; V video camera and recording; O other [specify in
comments]). Left-justify this code in column 38. Column 39 is
usually left blank, but two codes can be given, if applicable, such
as KT or KX.
40 Method of timekeeping (MT). (use capital letters: R radio signal
[WWV, CHU, etc.]; C clock adjusted by standard time signal; M some
medium that is specified in the comments and accurately related to a
standard time signal; T telephone; O other [specify in comments]).
Note that local telephone time must not be used in the U.S.A. or
Canada, because it can be in error by a few or several seconds.
Accurate time signals, from the U. S. Naval Observatory master clock,
can be obtained by calling 900-410-8463; the call should be placed
via AT&T to ensure use of land lines, which will give an accuracy of
a few hundredths of a second, more than sufficient for visual
timings. If the call is not made via AT&T, or if the National Bureau
of Standards' WWV 303-area-code number are used, the call might (or
might not, you would not know) be routed through a geosynchronous
satellite, causing a quarter-second delay, which is unacceptable,
even for visual timings. In the Washington, DC area, the USNO master
clock can be reached with a local call to 202-762-1401, but those
outside of the DC toll-free area should not use that number, because
it might go through a satellite. Some other nations, such as the
U.K., also have accurate time signals avialable by telephone.
41 Personal equation code (PE; this is usually just the observer's
reaction time, but also includes any mechanical or electrical delay
in the timing process, which is usually negligible compared with the
reaction time; use capital letters) - S, the following value of PE
has been subtracted from the observed time; E, personal equation,
known or unknown, has been eliminated in the method of timing and
determination [canceled out], use this for video and photoelectric
timings, and no PE value is given; N, PE not known; U, the following
value of the PE is known and not yet subtracted.
42-43 Personal equation (PE) value. It can be given in hundredths of a
second if either code "S" or "U" is given in column 41. The implied
decimal point, not given, preceeds col. 42, which contains the tenths
of a second while col. 43 contains the hundredths of a second.
Column 43 can be left blank if the PE is only estimated to the
nearest tenth of a second, which is often the case.
44-46 Accuracy of the reported time in seconds, as estimated for the
combination of the accuracies of timing, timekeeping, position, etc.
The decimal point occurs between columns 44 and 45. The following
standards can be used to estimate the accuracy (very good 0.1-0.2;
good 0.3-0.4; fair 0.5-0.7; poor 0.8-0.9; very poor >0.9).
47 Certainty of event (1, sure of event; 2, possibly spurious;
3, probably spurious).
48-49 Signal-to noise ratio (S/N) for photoelectric observations; it can
also be estimated for video or CCD observations. S is the total
level or count change, N the amplitude of the noise with star only.
The decimal point occurs between columns 48 and 49.
50 Component of a double or unidentified star (X). Use the following
codes (capital letters):
(W, preceding (west) component; E, following (east) component; N,
north component; S, south component; B, brighter component; F,
fainter component; U, unidentified star [give an estimate of the
cusp angle or P.A. of the event in a comment]; O, other [specify in
comments]).
51 Sky condition (seeing) - (1, good; 2, fair; 3, poor).
52 Sky condition (transparency) - (1, good; 2, fair; 3, poor).
53 Remarkable circumstances (1, gradual [not instantaneous] event; 2,
dark limb visible; 3, by averted vision; 4, star faint; 5, through
thin clouds; 6, many clouds; 7, strong wind; 8, in strong twilight).
Enter only the most important code.
54-55 Temperature in degrees centigrade. Give the temperature in the
comments if it is below -9C.
56 Other phenomenon. Column 56 on the reverse side of the printed form.
The following codes are used in case of gradual, partial, or faint
phenomena not included in column 37. Leave column 37 blank (or
enter zero) and enter one of the following codes: (1 start of
D at dark limb; 2 end of R at dark limb; 3 start of D at sunlit
feature; 4 end of R at sunlit feature; 5 start of D in umbra during
lunar eclipse; 6 end of R in umbra during lunar eclipse; 7 partial
blink; 8 faint flash).
57 Lunar limb code: D for dark limb; B for bright limb (or against
sunlit feature or penumbra during lunar eclipse); T, at terminator
(considered as B); or U for umbra during lunar eclipse. This is only
needed for blinks and flashes, or for column 58 graze end or start
observing events or timed conjunctions with lunar mountains and
valleys. It corresponds to column 57 on the reverse side of the
printed form.
58 Grazing occultation codes (G). Use this column and corresponding
codes given below to record a series of events during a grazing
occultation. Leave this column blank for total occultations; use it
only if you are within 3 arc seconds (generally 6 km) of the
predicted northern or southern limit of an occultation. Use the
following codes in column 58 for grazing occultations: "6" for a
contact event (D, R, blink, or flash) with corresponding event code
given in column 37; "7", failed to observe event; "8", started or
resumed observing; "9", stopped observing (temporarily or finally).
74-76 Telescope, observer, and recorder codes, respectively, corresponding
to columns S1, S2, S3 of the printed form; use capital letters. The
Telescope code in col. 74 is equal to the letter in col. 2 of the T
(telescopes and positions) line at the top of the file. The observer
and recorder code for cols. 75 and 76, respectively, is equal to the
letter in col. 2 of the O (observers and recorders) line at the top
of the file to identify participants. Column 76 is usually the same
as column 75 if a tape recorder or other automatic recorder is used,
but in this case, it can be used to specify an assistant. If columns
74-76 are used, then columns 26-36 should be blank.
Comments
Remarks are usually given on the reverse side of the printed form, as well
as eyepiece power and call letters of the standard time station. In the
electronic file, comments are entered as a second line for each event, with
columns 1-4 blank. Column 5 must NOT be blank. Time station identification
is specified in the comments only if it is different from that in the second
footing line described at the end of this document.
Footing Data
The footer consists of two records. This information is used by IOTA only,
and should not be included in any files sent to ILOC. Since they are not
sent to ILOC, the footer lines can include lower-case letters. The first
record is the map information and has the following format:
1 Always the letter "M" (capital M).
2 Blank if the positions for all stations were measured on the same
map, in which case only one map line is needed. Else, the
telescope/position letter (same as telescope/position letter in
column 2 of the telescope/position line) must be specified here.
Enter a separate line for each telescope/position line.
4-34 Name or number of the map from which the positions were measured.
36-39 Publication year of the map.
41-51 Scale of the map, left justified (example 1:24000).
53-76 Map publisher (example U.S.G.S.)
The second footer record is the graze summary and corresponds to the bottom
line on the reverse of the IOTA report form for grazes. The format is
follows:
1 Always the letter "G" (capital G).
3- 7 Predicted position angle (PA) of central graze, to 0.1 degree.
9-12 Magnitude of the star to 0.1 magnitude.
14-16 Percent sunlit for Moon.
17 "+" for waxing, '-' for waning phase, "E" for lunar eclipse.
19-21 CA (cusp angle) of central graze; umbral distance during lunar
eclipse.
22 "N" for CA measured from the northern cusp, "S" from south cusp, and
"U" to indicate umbral distance during lunar eclipse; use capitals.
24-26 Total number of stations in a graze expedition that obtained
nonredundant data (not just the number of stations in the file).
27-30 Total number of contact timings made during the expedition, counting
1 for certainty code 1 (certain events), half for certainty code 2
events, and 0 for certainty code 3 events (probably spurious).
32 Minimum (best) sky steadiness code (column 51 of timing line in e-
mail file, or col. 49 of written form) of all contacts (or of central
graze in the case of only one station having a miss) in the
expedition.
34-36 Minimum telescope aperture, in centimeters, reporting any contacts
with the minimum sky steadiness given in column 32.
38 "capital C" if the graze is in the "Cassini" region, that is, if most
contacts during the graze occurred in regions of the ACLPPP predicted
lunar profile defined by codes 2, 3, 4, and 7, or if the Cassini
region warning is given on the Grazereg profile.
39-41 Observed shift from the predicted profile used (in seconds of arc;
referred to the ACLPPP profile is preferred, if it is available).
42 "N" if the observed shadow was north of the predicted shadow; "S" if
the observed shadow was south. Blank if no (0.0) shift was
observed; use capitals.
44-46 Watts angle of center of observed events on the profile, to the
nearest degree. This is the Watts angle of central graze if the
observations are symmetric on the profile, which is usually the case
for dark-limb grazes far from a cusp.
48-50 Predicted latitude libration of the graze. It is given to the
nearest 0.1 degree without a decimal point (interpreted as between
columns 49 and 50).
52-60 Time station call letters, left-justified, for the time station of
ultimate reference. If a local AM station was used with a master
recording, identify the standard time station here and the AM station
in the comments. Use capital letters.
61-76 Specify the type of profile used for determining the shift given in
col. 39-42, for example, ACLPPP, preferred when available; Grazereg
vers. 3.4 (specify if the unreliable Cassini region message appears);
and OCCULT version 2.0. It should be left-justified, that is, should
start in col. 61, which should not be blank.
A second graze (G) line (optional) can be used to specify the expedition
organizer, if it is different from the REPRESENTATIVE in the 3rd line of the
header, which has more columns to specify this than are available for the
Occultation Newsletter summary. The summary is limited to 20 characters
which can be anything you want to specify, maybe to credit the persons who
set up the expedition, led the effort in the field, and prepared the report,
in case they were different. Using this has an advantage over the
REPRESENTATIVE line in that lower-case letters can be used. The format of
the 2nd graze line is:
1 Always the letter "G" (capital G).
3- 7 Always "999.9"
9-28 Organizer for the Occultation Newsletter summary. Column 9 must
not be blank.
The sample email-76 file that can be used as a template is below:
COLUMN # 1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777777
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
PLACE NAME Hollywood, Maryland, U.S.A.
ADDRESS I.O.T.A.; 7006 Megan Lane; Greenbelt, Maryland 20770; U.S.A.
E-MAIL ADDRESS dunham@erols.com
REPRESENTATIVE David W. Dunham and Richard Taibi FORMS REQUIRED NO
REPORTED TO ILOC, IOTA
TARAM 10.2 112 76 32 50.2 W 38 19 26.8 N 30.5NAD 1927
TBCED 20.3 203 76 32 48.1 W 38 19 24.6 N 30.5NAD 1927
TCNEM 25.4 142 76 32 44.8 W 38 19 21.5 N 30.5NAD 1927
OA Mahipal Virdy 0.3
OB David W. Dunham 0.3
OC Terry Losonsky 0.3
0186 829080400 R 885 9T RE 5 1 112 9 6 AAA
A miss (no occultation) was seen. This is a comments test.
0286 8290803462 R 885 1V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0386 8290803466 R 885 2V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0486 8290803521 R 885 1V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0586 8290803539 R 885 2V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0686 8290803596 R 885 1V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0786 8290804020 R 885 2V RE 1 1 112 9 6 BBB
0886 8290823492 S 77621 2S RS4 1 1 112 9 BBB
0986 8290854170 S 77639 2S RS5 2 1 112 9 BBB
1086 8290933319 S 77662 2S RS5 2 1 112 9 BBB
1186 8290803465 R 885 1T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1286 8290803500 R 885 2T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1386 8290803515 R 885 1T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1486 8290803550 R 885 2T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1586 8290803575 R 885 1T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1686 8290804025 R 885 2T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1786 8290804055 R 885 7T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1886 8290804355 R 885 1T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
1986 8290804360 R 885 2T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
2086 8290804420 R 885 7T RU3 3 1 112 9 6 CCC
M Hollywood, MD 1963 1:24,000 U.S.G.S.
G 346.0 5.6 31- 15N 9 72 1 6 0.3S 346 -57 WWV ACLPPP
G 999.9 D. Dunham & R. Taibi
COLUMN # 1111111111222222222233333333334444444444555555555566666666667777777
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456