A Year of Astrotourism Down Under

2015 Oct. 16, Las Vegas, Nevada

International Occultation Timing Association - Annual Meeting

David W. & Joan B. Dunham

Previous Trips to Australia and New Zealand• 1980 February, met Dave Herald during trip to observe a total solar eclipse in India• 1986 April, met Steve Hutcheon in Brisbane; he drove us up the Queensland coast to Cairns,

where we hired a small plane to take us all to an island in the Torres Strait to try to observe an occultation of a 6.8-mag. star by Halley’s Comet & occ’ns during a total lunar eclipse. A cyclone prevented sightseeing in Cairns, so we spent two days with Dave Herald in Sydney

• 2002 December, S. Australia, Joan, William, & I hired an RV in Adelaide & drove with Dave Herald to n. & s. limit sites for the total solar eclipse where it crossed the Stuart Highway

• 2003 June, I hired a car in Sydney, drove to Canberra & met Dave Herald there, but flew on to Adelaide, to observe an occultation of beta Vir by 124 Alkeste e. of there, the greatest distance travelled for an asteroidal occ’n.

• 2007 July, attended RASNZ & TTSO1 in Auckland, toured North Island few days• 2009 February, I flew to Perth & hired a car to drive to Beacon to meet Dave Herald. We

drove on to Kalgoorlie the next day, and observed a lunar graze of Antares with about 10 others north of the city. This was the greatest distance ever traveled for a lunar graze.

• Since then, we have wanted to spend much more time to explore Australia in more detail

Reduction of the 2009 Feb. 17 Antares grazeby Mitsuru Sôma usingKaguya profile data

On 2015 April 30 at 19:26 UT, the MESSENGER mission ended when the spacecraft crashed on Mercury. With my knowledge of the maneuver and operations software no longer needed, we departed Maryland on May 1st, staying in the LA area a day before going on to New Zealand

Our long visit to Australia and New Zealand

• We want to promote occultation science in this region, and learn new techniques from observers here, as we are doing at this symposium

• We want to observe several special events during the next several months, depicted on the following slides

• Take time to enjoy the sights of the southern skies• During travel for these events, we want to sightsee in many parts of

Australia and New Zealand• Develop improved equipment and observing techniques• We look forward to renewing acquaintances and making new friends

The RASNZ Annual Meeting and the 9th Trans-Tasman Symposium on

Occultations drew us to New Zealand for 11 days before our long

stay in Australia

New Zealand May 4 - 15

x

9th Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations Program

9th Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations 1 Ross Dickie 2 Stu Parker 3 Frank Andrews 4 John Talbot 5 Alan Gilmore 6 Murray Forbes 7 Joan Dunham 8 Graeme McKay 9 Steve Russell10 Steve Kerr11 Pauline Loader12 Bill Hanna13 Brian Loader14 Dave Herald15 Darren Corbett16 Rod Austin17 John Homes18 Martin Unwin19 Bill Allen20 Pam Kilmartin21 John Drummond22 Aline Homes23 Peter Graham24 David Dunham25 George Wingate26 Gordon Hudson27 Chris Douglass

New Zealand Photos

David Dunham, David Herald, Bill Hanna, Steve Kerr

Wine Tasters (at Blenheim, NZ)

Brisbane area, May 15 – 21, 29 – June 5

Sheldon

SteveHutcheon

JohnBroughton

Side Trip to Indonesia May 21-28

Rank 76 Occultation of Regulusby (1669) Dagmar, 2015 May 24

It occurred near our home in Maryland

But . . .

It occurred near our home in Maryland

But the Sun alt. was 71 and star alt. only 2!

The best place for this event was Saudi Arabia

Near Jeddah, the star altitude was about 67 with Sun altitude about -14

The university could onlysupport the 6 mighty minisbrought by Paul Maley &not the 6 that we had.

Our 3 stations around Bengkulu, s.w. Sumatra

Sky dark, but altitude just under 5 there; the haze/clouds near the horizon only allowed Wira Hadiputrawan to record the star (very faintly) to that altitude. show actual locations; 3 telescope symbols show locations that couldn’t be used. We thank Wira, from Lembang Observatory, Bandung Univ., for travelling with us to Bengkulu and central Java, and also Yudhiakto Pramudya and Eko Hadigunawan from Yogyakarta, for making all local arrangements.

Joan – star not seen

Wira – Faint, butOccultation recorded

David – star recorded to 6

May 24, occultation of 1.4-mag. Regulus by Dagmar

Joan and I ran 8 stations along the Tanaimi Rd., 3 120mm maxi’s, 4 80mm midi’s, & the 10in. Scope.

The occultation may have beendetected at Wira Hadiputrawan’s station but the star was too faint in the haze to quantify the times.

I thank Tony George and Brad Timerson for the ROT-E and Occult event analyses here andfor other occultations shown in this presentation.

Dagmar Photos

Freddy with Joan’s setup and Joan’s Station Location

David and Wira at Wira’s site

2 nights later, Julietta occulted Sagittarii over Java

Rank 26

Rank 83 occultation of 2.9-mag. Kaus Media ( Sagittarii)

The morning after the Dagmar occ’n, we flew to Yogyakarta, where we worked with members of the astronomy club there, to deploy mighty mini’s north from that city to Semarang

Yogyakarta

Teaching Julietta Observers in Yogyakarta

NORTH

SOUTH

EAST

WEST

Deneb

Vega

Altair

Arcturus

SpicaSaturn

Fomalhaut

Antares

CENTAURUS

“TEAPOT”

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIUS

M I L K

Y W

A Y

Overhead

M I L K

Y W

A Y

WholeSkyChart

Yogyakarta observers were trained & occupied 5 of 6 sites

Skies were clear only at the 2 western, and the northernmost, sites, each with a miss. Although little data were collected, the events sparked interest in occultations in Indonesia

x

Our Julietta site,

Setting up with Wira, and view of the skies. The baggy was to protect the telescope from the rain….

May 29, 7:31 UT, 6.2-mag. SAO 79580 by Venus, soon after our return to Brisbane from Java.In Brisbane, the disappearance occurred at altitude 27, Sun altitude -7, but some clouds, the twilight and strong glare from Venus defeated our attempt to record the event with an 8-inch SCT borrowed from the Astronomical Association of Queensland at Steve Hutcheon’s home in Sheldon, Queensland, s.e. of Brisbane

Brisbane to Cairns, June 5 - 7

SteveKerr

Bowen

June 10, 15:03 UT, occultation of 6.1-mag. star by Gratia

From Cairns, we hoped to observe this bright occultation. Although it Was the “dry” season, that’s just a relative term in the tropics. There wasActually a drought during the earlier “wet” season, so it rained most of The week we were in Cairns, cloudy across the whole region.

At Peter Anderson’s suggestion, I joined the Astronomical Association of Queensland to rent one of their 20cm SCT telescopes during our stay in AU. But the telescope components and their boxes were too large for our rental car with our other telescopes and gear, so we returned the 20cm scope after the May 29th Venus occultation and before we left Brisbane. We knew then that Bill Hanna would be leaving Alice Springs, and would be leaving his 20cm SCT there for our use.

June 11, ~19:20 UT, partial/grazing occultation of 5.9-mag. Uranus 3 from northern cusp of the 26% sunlit waning crescent Moon at altitude 64, Sun altitude -25, the night after the Gratia occultation. But again, it rained, and was cloudy across the whole region. Dave Herald had clear skies at Murrumbateman, north of Canberra, and recorded the reappearance of the planet that occurred there. After spending six days in Cairns, visiting the Barrier Reef and other sights in the area, we started our drive to Alice Springs, arriving there a few days after Bill Hanna had left.

Cairns to Alice Springs, June 13 - 17

Camoolweal

Richmond Hunghendon(Plesiosaur)

Tennant Creek

Devil’s Marbles Wycliffe Well (UFO Capital of Australia)

XAt Camoolweal, a sign says:Welcome to Queensland – Set your watches ahead 1.5hrs & 5 years

Road to Alice Springs

Road Train

Devil’s Marbles

Alice Springs from Mt. Gillen

June 18, 10:47 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Adeona

June 18, 10:47 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Adeona

Joan and I ran 2 stations, about 30 & 50 km s.w. of Alice Springs, whileRichard Williamson observed with the 20cm SCT at his observatory on The south side of Alice Springs; the 3 stations had no occultation.

David with 10” suitcase telescope (John Broughton designed and built; he presented this design remotely at the 2011IOTA meeting)

Midi scope on paver stone (John Broughton designed and built mount; for another event, since the Adeona star was too faint for midi’s)

Equipment setups at Dunham Adeona observing sites

June 29, 10:47 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Adeona

Occultation of 12.3-mag. star by PlutoJune 29, 16:52 UT

Professional astronomershad many stations in NZ& Tasmania, so we decided to try 2 stationsIn Victoria

I considered Tasmania at last minute, but the weather forecaster for Tas. discouraged that. The occ’n was recorded near Hobart.

June 29, 16:52 UT, occultation of 12.3-mag. star by Pluto

Clouds were forecast along the sw coast, so we drove to Wodonga near the NSW border. But when we arrived there, clouds were seen in the east & the forecast was for fog, with better conditions at Bendigo, so we drove back west, to Euroa, where we booked a motel. Joan, with maxi, was clouded out. With the 10”, I drove to Merton toescape the clouds, but fog there forced me back north. Not enough time for good obs.

Euroa

MertonX DWD

June 29, 16:52 UT, occultation of 12.3-mag. star by Pluto

The occultation was observed from SOFIA from the predicted central line s.e. of NZ with a good recording of the central flash. Although some were clouded out, several recorded the event from New Zealand & one from Tasmania. D. Herald at Murrumbateman, NSW had the closest miss obs. while we failed at our locations 100 km closer.

July 17, 18:44 UT, occultation of 11.9-mag. star by Aline

July 17, 18:44 UT, occultation of 11.9-mag. star by Aline

Joan and I ran 6 stations along the Tanami Rd., 3 120mm maxi’s, 2 80mm midi’s with integrating cameras, & the 10in. Scope. Two shownrecorded no event; batteries failed at the others with temp. about 3 C.

Miss

Miss

Two other events, a graze on June 22nd and the July 31st Bertholda occultation, will be discussed in my next presentation about paver mounts. They were partially successful.

August 2 – 14, we returned to USA, but only to Honolulu, Hawaii, to attend the General Assembly of the International Occultation Timing Association, the subject of another presentation.

The evening of August 2, after we left Alice Springs, Richard Williamson observed an occultation (positive) by the asteroid Kolga from his observatory, but inadvertently wrote over the recording of that for a subsequent event.

July 31, 10:23 UT, occultation of 10.3-mag. star by Bertholda

Good 10.0-mag. rank 75 occultation, Aug. 22 16:57 UT

Aug. 22, 16:57 UT, occultation of 10.0-mag. star by Hekate

Joan and I ran 8 stations along the Tanaimi Rd., 3 120mm maxi’s, 4 80mm midi’s, & the 10in. Scope. Finally a complete success!The 3 northern stations had no occultation, as did Richard to the south,but our 5 other stations were positive, resulting in a good profile

RichardWilliamson

----- Not Used

Aug. 22, 16:57 UT, occultation of 10.0-mag. star by Hekate

Joan and I ran 8 stations along the Tanaimi Rd., 3 120mm maxi’s, 4 80mm midi’s, & the 10in. Scope.

Hekate site at sunset

Scopes ready to travel

Alice Springs - Uluru, September 1 - 5

Mt. Gillen

The

Olgas Mt.

Conner

Kings Canyon

Palm

Valley

Gosses

Bluff

Henbury MeteoriteCraters

Palm Valley Crater Panorama and Henbury Crater

Meteorite Craters

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Mount Conner at Sunset

Sept. 5, 17:16 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Artemis

Sept. 5, 17:16 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Artemis

Richard Williamson used the 20cm SCT to record the event from his Home, while we ran the 10-in. as a remote station at Hugh, and used aMaxi with integrating camera at the Cannonball Memorial about 10 kmnorth of the southernmost OW symbol above.

Sept. 5, 17:16 UT, occultation of 12.4-mag. star by Artemis

A fairly good astrometric position, but with time errors at the north & southstations with the largeIntegration intervals usedfor the faint star, the shape solution is poorer than the formal errors suggest.

Sept. 11, 19:59 UT, occultation of 9.2-mag. star by Asterope

This was an ideal event for remote stations, with over 10h of dark time to deploy and pre-point telescopes, so we devoted all our resources to this high-rank event. Although most stations were pickedup after sunrise, the small systems were hidden well enough for that.

Preparing for the Asterope Occultation

Wycliffe Well, “the UFO capital of Australia”, was atthe south 1 limit, so we stayed there for 3 nights

We saw no aliens, but did see mice in our room & cows (& their pies)in the walkways.

Sept. 11, 19:59 UT, occultation of 9.2-mag. star by AsteropeJoan and I ran 11 stations along the Stuart Hwy from Wycliffe Well to Churchills Head (northern attended station), 3 120mm maxi’s, 6 80mm midi’s, a mini with an integrating camera, & the 10in. scope. The 3 southern stations had no occultation, station 4 camera battery was too low, and the 7 others were all positive, a record for us. The PPMX catalog showed a large north shift (see below) which is why we set up as far north as Churchills Head (good thing we did) & later work by S. Preson confirmed a north shift likely.failed

Generated andposted by BradTimerson

Sept. 11, 19:59 UT, occultation of 9.2-mag. star by Asterope

The northernmost & southermost chords 1 & 8were VTI time-inserted. This shows non-linear drift maybe a problem with some ofthe Canon ZR camcorderclocks; future tests will tryto quantify those drifts. 30th

anniversary of ICE at GZ!

The Kimberley, September 17 - 25

LakeArgyle

Wolfe Creek Crater

Bungle BungleNat’l Park

China Wall

El Questro

Pickaninny Crater

Sign, “Look Out forAnimals next 160 km”was changed to “next 11,160 km”

DunhamRiver

Pictures from the Kimberley

Bungle Bungle, Pickaninny Creek Bungle Bungle near Carpark

Lake Argyle with Crocodile El Questro, crossing Pentecost River

Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater Panorama

Pickaninny Crater Wolfe Creek Crater Center (Proven by Eugene Shoemaker)

October 8, central Australia, the 15% sunlit waning cresent Moon occulted Venus, providing an opportunity to try to record Ashen light on dark side of Venus for about 30s before the sunlit part reappeared. We recorded the event with the 10-in. & 2-frame integrations from a dark site at Irlpme few km north of Alice Springs, and observed visually with the 20cm SCT, an incredibly beautiful event, but no ashen light was detected. Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6TsRBQaMzI&feature=youtu.be

Venus

X15189

October 16-18, I will attend the IOTA meeting in Las Vegas, but only remotely, from Maryland (had to make an emergency trip home due to Robert Farquhar’s grave condition), and currently plan to return to Australia Oct. 27.

After about a week in Alice Springs, we will move to the Canberra area in early November. From there, we will visit other parts of s.e. Australia, and make a side trip to Western Australia.

2016 March 9, we will try to observe the total solar eclipse from somewhere in the path crossing northern Indonesia. I note that the path crosses Banka Island, where Dave Herald observed another total solar eclipse in 1988 (I believe that was the year, also in March). During other parts of early March, we’ll visit Brisbane & Gold Coast.

2016 March 25-28, Sutherland, we will attend 50th NACAA, and TTSO10 before or after it, while staying in the Sydney area during the last part of March. We plan to return to the US, hopefully in time for the April 5 th occultation by (216) Kleopatra.

Red – previous, D,J,&WBlue – previous, D onlyGreen – 2015, D & JOrange – 2015 & previous

Laura

TorresStrait

There are many more pictures of our travels that you can see on Joan Dunham’s Facebook page; friend her to get messages when she posts new photos.

When we leave, we will leave our telescopes in Australia, for any observer (or observers) who might use them, including:

The 20cm SCT3 120mm “maxi” systems6 80mm “midi” systemsA few 6 “mini” systems

and PAL video equipment (4 Watec cameras, 4 MiniDVRs, & a Canon camcorder).

We greatly appreciated John Broughton’s special telescope design skills, & Richard Williamson’s abilities to fix our equipment, supportthat we haven’t had before, but hope to get, in the US, especially an ability to manufacture John’s “suitcase” and paver mount scopes.

Regulus is occulted again, by the 137km asteroid (268) Adorea on 2016 October 13, I think the Caroline Islands will be best. It will be an excuse for us to return to Australia for perhaps about a month.

We invite Australasians to observe “The Great American Eclipse” and visit us around that time, when we will likely be travelling somewhere in the western USA.By then, we also hope to have a 2nd home in either Arizona or California.

About 2 months later, we plan to be in Adelaide, to attend the International Astronautical Congress.