How to carry out multi-station asteroidal occultations – what is a paver mount?
Session details: Monday, 2016-03-28 00:30:00, LT106
Abstract
David and Joan Dunham have been travelling around Australia making occultation observations. Many of these have been multi-chord asteroidal occultations with unattended stations strategically located across predicted paths. They have used a range of equipment including some innovative telescope mounting arrangements developed by John Broughton who has also produced some amazing observations. This talk covers the innovative designs of their equipment and how they put them to use.
Biography
David and Joan Dunham have spent much of 2015 travelling around Australia and a number of other parts of the world chasing interesting occultations in interesting places – which actually isn’t all that different for this Washington DC based couple. David as founder of IOTA (International Occultation Timing Association) has been instrumental developing much that is modern occultation observing and combined with Joan, they make a formidible observing team.
John Broughton is a Gold Coast based amateur astronomer who has combined his skills as an innovative designer of telescope systems with an impressive record of asteroid discovery and occultation observing. He was a recipient of a “Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Objects” grant in 2002.