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 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 graze by Mitsuru Sôma using Kaguya 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 1 st, 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 9 th Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations drew us to New Zealand for 11 days before our long stay in Australia

New Zealand May  x

9 th Trans-Tasman Symposium on Occultations Program

9 th 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 Russell 10 Steve Kerr 11 Pauline Loader 12 Bill Hanna 13 Brian Loader 14 Dave Herald 15 Darren Corbett 16 Rod Austin 17 John Homes 18 Martin Unwin 19 Bill Allen 20 Pam Kilmartin 21 John Drummond 22 Aline Homes 23 Peter Graham 24 David Dunham 25 George Wingate 26 Gordon Hudson 27 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 Steve Hutcheon John Broughton

Side Trip to Indonesia May Rank 76 Occultation of Regulus by (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 only support the 6 mighty minis brought 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, but Occultation 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 been detected 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 and for 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 EASTEAST WESTWEST Deneb Vega Altair Arcturus Spica Saturn Fomalhaut Antares CENTAURUS    “TEAPOT” SAGITTARIUS SCORPIUS M I L K Y W A Y Overhead M I L K Y W A Y Whole Sky Chart

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 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 Steve Kerr 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 was Actually 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 29 th 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 Camoolweal Richmond  Hunghendon (Plesiosaur)  Tennant Creek  Devil’s Marbles  Wycliffe Well (UFO Capital of Australia) X At 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

Joan and I ran 2 stations, about 30 & 50 km s.w. of Alice Springs, while Richard 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 2011 IOTA 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 Pluto June 29, 16:52 UT Professional astronomers had many stations in NZ & Tasmania, so we decided to try 2 stations In 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 to escape the clouds, but fog there forced me back north. Not enough time for good obs.  Euroa  Merton X 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

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 shown recorded no event; batteries failed at the others with temp. about 3  C. Miss

Two other events, a graze on June 22 nd and the July 31 st 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 :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 Richard Williamson 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 Mt. Gillen   The Olgas  Mt. Conner  Kings Canyon  Palm Valley  Gosses Bluff Henbury  Meteorite Craters

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

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 a Maxi with integrating camera at the Cannonball Memorial about 10 km north 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 & south stations with the large Integration intervals used for 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 picked up after sunrise, the small systems were hidden well enough for that.

Preparing for the Asterope Occultation

Wycliffe Well, “the UFO capital of Australia”, was at the 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 Asterope Joan 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 and posted by Brad Timerson

Sept. 11, 19:59 UT, occultation of 9.2-mag. star by Asterope The northernmost & southermost chords 1 & 8 were VTI time-inserted. This shows non-linear drift may be a problem with some of the Canon ZR camcorder clocks; future tests will try to quantify those drifts. 30 th anniversary of ICE at GZ!

The Kimberley, September Lake Argyle  Wolfe Creek Crater Bungle Nat’l Park China Wall El  Questro Pickaninny Crater Sign, “Look Out for Animals next 160 km” was changed to “next 11,160 km” Dunham River

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 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 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 March 25-28, Sutherland, we will attend 50 th 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,&W Blue – previous, D only Green – 2015, D & J Orange – 2015 & previous Laura Torres Strait

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 SCT 3 120mm “maxi” systems 6 80mm “midi” systems A 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, support that 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 2 nd home in either Arizona or California. About 2 months later, we plan to be in Adelaide, to attend the International Astronautical Congress.