As you might guess from looking at all the Astronomical League Observing Program awards I have received, I really like these Observing Programs (OP). One thing is they provide list after list of things to observe. All I need to do is to find an Observing Program I want to explore and voila...I have a list of objects to look at.
I have completed all but 4 of these OPs. One of the remaining OPs that I would like to complete is the Occultation OP (https://www.astroleague.org/content/occultation-observing-program). In looking at what is needed to capture accurate timing of these events, I was thinking it would cost me several hundreds of dollars in imaging equipment. To my rescue is a group of IOTA Occultation watchers that have used imaging equipment. So I am looking at starting this OP soon, with the help of these great people.
For accurate timing of the event, I was directed to an app called "Occult Flash Tag" which at a prescribed time, directs a flash of light down the optical path of my telescope and is recorded on the video capture. Once I process my video on a video processing program, I can get accurate timings and report my occultation events based on the time of this flash recorded on the video.
By asking for help and asking enough questions, I have what I need to start this OP at a very little out of pocket expense. I'm looking forward to now completing this program someday.
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