The International Occultation Timing Association

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IOTA AUSTRALASIA

Information Site for Lunar Occultations & Grazes

Last Updated 26 August 2022

WARNING! Information and e-mail addresses contained herein, are for scientific use only. By entering this site, you agree that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this data to: allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail, electronic mail, or by telephone.

MISSION STATEMENT

We encourage, promote and facilitate the observation of occultations and eclipses
We provide predictions for grazing occultations of stars by the Moon
and predictions for occultations of stars by asteroids and planets
We also provide information on observing equipment and techniques,
and we report to our members about observations made

IOTA GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

To promote scientific research and discovery using occultation related methods
To conduct research at the local, regional and international level
and to publish results of studies in popular and scientific journals
To stimulate public awareness of astronomical phenomena such as (but not limited to) solar and lunar eclipses and occultations of stars by minor planets, the Moon, and other solar system bodies
To improve lunar profile data through timing of grazing and total occultations
To determine shapes and sizes of minor planets and comets through timing of occultations of stars by these objects
To discover evidence of new, and confirm characteristics of previously discovered, satellites/companions of minor planets

The Value of Lunar Occultation Timings and Observations

Upcoming Bright Star Occultation Events

Observers are encouraged to download the Occult software
to generate predictions for their areas, of fainter occultations

Check "Regional Information on Events" below for more information on occultation/graze events for local circumstances

How to read the country codes and prediction format

03 Sep - Occultation of δ Sco - 2.3m - w Mexico
05 Sep - Occultation of φ Sag - 3.2m - s Africa, Madagascar
06 Sep - Occultation of τ Sag - 3.3m - s Canada, USA, Mexico, Central America
14 Sep - Occultation of Uranus - 5.7m - n central Africa, Europe, nw Asia
30 Sep - Occultation of δ Sco - 2.3m - Indonesia, n Australia
03 Oct - Occultation of &phi Sag - 3.2m - southern South America
03 Oct - Occultation of σ Sag - 2.1m - southern South America
03 Oct - Occultation of τ Sag - 3.3m - e Indonesia
12 Oct - Occultation of Uranus - 5.7m - nw USA, Alaska, Canada, Greenland
17 Oct - Occultation of ι Gem - 3.8m - se South America
20 Oct - Occultation of η Leo - 3.5m - s Canada, w USA, n Mexico
30 Oct - Occultation of φ Sag - 3.2m - New Zealand
30 Oct - Occultation of τ Sag - 3.3m - s Middle East; sw Asia
08 Nov - Occultation of Uranus - 5.6m - e Asia, Japan, Alaska
13 Nov - Occultation of ι Gem - 3.8m - New Zealand
16 Nov - Occultation of η Leo - 3.5m - central Asia
20 Nov - Occultation of γ Vir - 2.8m - nw Africa, sw Europe
26 Nov - Occultation of τ Sag - 3.3m - se USA, Caribbean, nw South America
05 Dec - Occultation of Uranus - 5.7m - w Europe, Middle East, n Asia
08 Dec - Occultation of Mars - -1.9m - USA, Canada, Greenland, w Europe
14 Dec - Occultation of η Leo - 3.5m - e USA, w Africa
17 Dec - Occultation of γ Vir - 2.8m - Hawaii
end of 2022

2022 Predictions

Concerning 2022 IOTA Predictions Must Read(pdf format)
2022 Worldwide Total Occultations of Bright Stars
2022 Occultation of Planets by the Moon
2022 Total Occultations of Bright Stars for 40 North American Cities
2022 North America Graze Tables and Maps - D. Dunham
Eclipse Maps and Weather
Eclipse Information from Eclipse-Chasers.com

Asteroid Occultation Information

Steve Preston's World Wide Prediction Site
Derek Breit's Regional Asteroid Path Maps for USA
North American Asteroidal Reference Homepage
Asteroidal Occultation Results for North America
Worldwide Results Home Page
Report Form For Asteroid Observations
Japanese Astroidal Prediction Site (Japanese)
Japanese Astroidal Results (English)

Lunar Impacts and IOTA

NASA/Marshall main lunar impacts Web site
B. Cudnik's ALPO lunar meteor impacts Web site
D. Dunham's Impact Page (historical, 1999 & 2001, & earlier efforts)

Helpful Information

I.O.T.A.'s Primary Site
I.O.T.A. Membership Application
IOTAoccultations@groups.io - Discussion Maillist
"Chasing the Shadow: The IOTA Occultation Observer's Manual
The Occultation Observer's Handbook by Robinson & Povenmire
NWS Current Weather & Forecasts
Time Conversion Tables - UTC to Local for USA
World Time Zone Map
IOTA Annual Meeting Minutes

Occult Software and Related Information

Occult Prediction Software
Tips for using Occult by David Dunham (pdf file)
Lunar Report Generator
Occult/IOTA Groups.io - Discussion Maillist
How to Use Occult 4 to Predict Comet Occultations
The ZC Star Catalog (not to be interfaced with Occult)
Expanded Site Files

OccultWatcher -
A free software program designed by Hristo Pavlov to help asteroidal occultation observers to stay tuned with the latest predictions published by Steve Preston on his web site.
The program monitors the site and downloads the new or updated predictions when they become available

Basics of Total Occultations

Basic Information and How to Obtain Predictions
BeeperSync - An Alternative WWV Internet Based Timing Source
How to Report Observations
The Prediction Format for Total Occultations - [pdf format]
The Value of Total Lunar Occultations
Timing & Location Accuracies for Observations

Basics of Grazing Occultations

The Grazing Occultation
IOTA Standard Stations
North American city coordinates
Archive of Observed Graze Profile Reductions

Regional Information on Events
all these are external links

Mid-Atlantic Occultations - D. Dunham
Kansas-Missouri Area - R. Sandy
Upper Midwest- MN, IA, ND, SD and WI
San Francisco Bay Area - D. Breit
Houston Area - P. Maley
Occultations for Belgium, France, Spain, and Portugal - J. Schwaenen
Central America/South America (in Spanish)
Brazil by Breno Loureiro Giacchini (in Portuguese)

If you have a local URL for your area, send information to the webmaster for inclusion

Use of Video on Timing Events A Light Weight Portable Video Setup - by R. Nugent
Richard Nugent's System - by D. Dunham
Tom Heisey's Video Setup (PDF)
"Millisecond Video Timing for the Masses" by S. Herchak
Finding Limiting Mag for Visual/Video Camera Observations

KIWI-OSD and IOTA-VTI Time Inserters

LiMovie measurement tool for video occultations (the most stable version)

Miscellaneous Stuff I.O.T.A. Tax Information/Expense Report [pdf format]
Additional Reference Reading Material

astronomylinks.com
astronomy and space links, shortcuts, favorites and bookmarks.

This site maintained for IOTA by Rob Robinson, Bonner Springs KS
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Send comments and mail to I.O.T.A. President, Steve Preston
IOTA Administration, email I.O.T.A.

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