Observing Impacts as They Happen with Contributions by Many Members of the International Occultation Timing Association

Abstract

This chapter provides techniques and tips to maximize the chances of obtaining successful observations of lunar meteoritic phenomena. The chapter is divided into four broad sections: general guidelines for observations, techniques for visual observations, techniques for video observations, and highlights of useful equipment and observer setups to guide the novice (and even enlighten the advanced) in the observing process. The two latter sections include a number of elements that have been brought together from dialogues and discussions among members of the IOTA group over several years’ time as well as my own experiences along the way. The members have, over the years, discussed in detail a number of pieces of equipment and their uses in the field of stellar occultation observation, most of which can also be used in the recording of lunar meteoritic impact flashes. However, due to the stringent time requirements inherent to occultation timing observations, a number of items related to equipment and techniques are not applicable in the area of lunar meteoritic observations and have been omitted from this work. Nonetheless, the same equipment used in occultation observation can also be used in the observation of lunar meteoritic impact events. Steve Preston of IOTA provided a tutorial on extracting event times of stellar and lunar occultations (and lunar meteor impacts) from videotape; this tutorial is presented in Appendix C.