EXPERIENCES WITH ORGANIZING FOR THE MAY 29, 2011 EUDORA OCCULTATION

1. EXPERIENCES WITH ORGANIZING FOR THE MAY 29, 2011 EUDORA OCCULTATION Terrence R. Redding, Ph.D. Redding South Observatory West Palm Beach, Florida USA

2. A Learning Experience • Personal Experience • Group Experience • IOTA • Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches • South Florida Science Museum • Extending the experience • Media • Other organizations

3. Routine EventsFramework • Monthly web page • Report on past events – observations, misses and positive • Detailed results of both hits and misses – building interest because we make a difference • Predicted events, highlighting a few occultations and grazes for the Palm Beaches • High ranked, bright events, Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning or before midnight events.

4. Palm Beaches Occultations

5. Palm Beaches Occultations, cont.

6. Palm Beaches Occultations, cont.

7. Occultations as Mental Candy • High Self-Directed Learning – with the right person and circumstances = intensive learning • Learning situations emerge from “organizing circumstances” • Occultations appear easy to do • Can be done with small scopes, accurate time and recording device • Done from home or mobile

8. Natural Phases of HSDLFocused Learning • Period of preparation • Period of planning • Period of practice • Period of execution • Period of evaluation • Period of reflection • Period of recommitment or intentional abandonment

9. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event (Preparation Phrase) • April 6th shared the formal reporting requirements of Wanda, announced April would be a quiet month and indicated Eudora May 29th would be an excellent event to plan for (late Saturday, early Sunday morning) • May 4th – Eudora announced as a world class event – offered four mobile stations for club use for those without scopes – invited all to do it from home – coordinate with me

10. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont.

11. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 9th five observers were committed in the Palm Beaches and I had decided to abandon my home 14” station to go mobile with the 70mm occultation scopes and fill in some holes in the distribution. • May 11th a school science teacher joins the group. • May 13th the South Florida Science Museum expressed interest in the event

12. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 14th the Science Museum asked for help • May 16th the local CBS affiliate picked up the story and wanted to do an interview, film the event and a follow-up story after the event • May 16th I suggested the Science Museum open the event up to area science programs and I or someone from the club could serve as a resource person and guide them through attempting the occultation from the Museum

13. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 16th the Science Museum was offered canned material from IOTA to use as an example for CBS and a promise of a camera, KIWI GPS and camcorder for their C14 • May 17th local observatory operator advised against using the 14” from the Science Museum citing poor tracking and little prospect of actually seeing “anything”

14. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 18th and 18 stations committed. I learned I had to be a OW coordinator to enter more than ten stations – feeling the power (-: • May 19th, Pre-point being prepared and shared – • May 22nd committed one station to the Science Museum to insure they were represented

15. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 23rd another club member announces he has two Mighty-Minis, PC164CEX-2 (KPC-SLL650BHE) cameras, Knight Owl focal reducers and Canon camcorders • May 24th learned a club member fell off a ladder, suffered brain damage and was in intensive care. • May 24th comparing pre-point charts

16. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 25th observers testing their equipment and practicing pre-pointing, recording, time signals • May 26th others calling for more observers, commenting that chords are filling in nicely • May 26th IOTA call for observers more than 700 km from the path to attempt the event • May 27th final instructions to new observers on recording the event

17. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 28th general call to other observers not normally involved in occultations to observe • May 28th final station practice, coordination and general encouragement • May 28th moth flys through the FOV • May 28th field deployment with a close watch on the weather • May 28th last minutes stations start calling to join the effort

18. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 29th locked in a state park waiting for the ranger to let me out – first pre-point complete • May 29th second pre-point complete • May 29th cell phone calls from other Palm Beaches observers – all set – 41 stations coordinated for the event • May 29th 15 minutes past the event and miss reports start coming in

19. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 29th with the miss reports comes double checking station data and preparation – trying to figure out what happened • May 29th observed – no occultation – over and over • May 29th observers assume the miss was their fault, wrong star field, inattention, bumped scope – out of time – but still fun to try

20. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 29th 12 PM first definite report of a miss on the net and a call for all reports to include miss reports • May 29 1 PM guess of substantial path shift and the question “What happened?” • May 29th more miss reports and confirmation that observers are “psyched for these” and will keep trying

21. Timeline for the Eudora, May 29th event, cont. • May 29th 8 PM explanations of bright star and problems with astrometry suggested • May 29th 11 PM detailed reports of experiences start coming in • May 30th 2 AM positive north Florida 1.3 path shift north • May 30th 11 AM second guessing message confirm what if and only if and a commitment to try again

22. Lessons Learned • Is a 97% ranked occultation that likely to be observed – always warn observers of the possibility of a path shift • Be prepared for non-occultation types to become interested in your activities - Lesson plans and handouts would be very helpful • Plan to be a resource person for the local education group – support allows them to participate

23. Lessons Learned, cont. • Be prepared to enable to learning experiences of others – those interested in doing a first time occultation • Be aware that learning occurs during planning, practice, execution, evaluation and reflection • Seek a continuing commitment to learning and future events • Build a relationship with the local media

24. Candy for the Mind

25. Review of the Experience • In the past we have been called “stamp collectors” and indeed many of us are • Others like to compute the path, or analyze the results • As an educator I experience an occultation in a different way than many – though an amateur astronomer I am also an educator • And as a social scientist focused on HSDL, I place these experiences within a formal analytical framework

26. Implications for IOTA • Being aware of the educational opportunities embedded within an event should place IOTA in a better position to encourage educational organizations to incorporate occultations into lesson plans, curriculums and programs of instruction • Being aware of the powerful learning that occurs during an occultation should improve IOTA’s ability to secure educational related funding.