Astronomy Enthusiasts: Timing Occultations

All are welcome to meet and learn with the Astronomy Enthusiasts of Lancaster County. Find out what to look for in the monthly sky and more! Steve Conard, a member of the International Occultation Timing Association, will describe opportunities for amateur astronomers to contribute scientifically by timing occultations. Occultations of stars by the moon are a very regular occurrence, and about 1 in 100 video-timed occultations result in a previously unknown double star’s discovery. Asteroid occultations, while somewhat rarer, can result in generating a silhouette of the asteroid–givin​g important size and shape information that is not otherwise easily obtained. These asteroid observations have also produced occasional discoveries of asteroid satellites and double stars.

Bio: Steve Conard is an optical systems engineer for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. He has developed hardware for space missions for over 30 years. His enjoyment for telescope making as a teenager led him to a career in optics.

Please pre-register by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to register@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 626-2255.