An Occultation Primer or How Do I Start Observing Occultations? Below are listed some of the important resources you really need to be aware of and use when beginning (or advancing) in the field of Occultations. They have been divided into 3 categories: General, Lunar, Asteroidal. However, there is, at times, a bit of "spill-over" between categories. General 1. Download (or have a friend download) the IOTA Manual: "Chasing the Shadow: The IOTA Occultation Observer's Manual" from this website: http://www.poyntsource.com/IOTAmanual/Preview.htm This book is a "must read" for anyone new to the field and those who might be returning to occultation observing after being away for awhile. If you are returning to the field after an absence, you will find many new observing and reporting techniques that are now being implemented. 2. OCCULT4: A software program written by Dave Herald that does all the work of producing predictions and analyzing results. Go to this webpage: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm and read through carefully. Depending on the catalogs selected, the download size can vary. A CD is available for those without a high speed internet connection. (or, have a friend with a high speed connection download the file(s) for you and burn them to a CD) Lunar Occultations 1. The previosuly mentioned OCCULT4 program can produce all the Total and Grazing Occultation predictions you will need. You can produce maps and lunar profiles (for use with grazes). There is a section that can be used to create Reports of your observations for submission to the Coordinator for your region. 2. Go to this website: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm and read through all the links regarding lunar occultations. Asteroidal Occultations 1. Once again, OCCULT4 is the primary prediction and analysis tool. With updated information (done within the program), you can run predictions for asteroid occultations for any location. However, better predictions for these events are available from two other resources. 2. Web-based: Steve Preston's website at: http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/ has all the latest predictions for the world. These are based on more accurate asteroid ephemerides and are therefore more accurate than predictions produced by OCCULT4 alone. 3. Application-based: The newest tool being used by asteroid occultation observers is Hristo Pavlov's program, OccultWatcher. This program looks through several sources of asteroid occultation predictions and filters them out so that you see only the events you are interested in. Among many other tasks, it allows you to see other observers who have signed up to view an event and how their location compares to yours. This prevents observers watching an event from identical chords. Get this program from: http://www.hristopavlov.net/OccultWatcher/publish.htm Miscellaneous Related Websites Graze Maps and Predictions for North America http://www.iota.timerson.net Worldwide Asteroid Occultation Webpage http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/ North American Asteroid Occultation Webpage http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/NA/ Asteroid Occultation Prediction resources http://www.poyntsource.com/New/Global.htm