親子觀星會

Smart telescope 國外掩星觀測polemrle

Kevin Voeller, a US-based citizen astronomer, succesfully detected an occultation by asteroid Loreley, here is his story:

When the call went out to try and observe the occultation by asteroid (165) Loreley at 1am, I was a little hesitant to stay up that late. But that afternoon I cleared the eVscope of its previous data and checked the sky maps to find a spot free of trees and roofs. As the evening went on, I double checked the coordinates, went through the easy-to-follow online checklist/directions and synchronized my cell phone’s clock.  My supportive wife even stayed up with me! I captured the data, and although I did not notice the occultation live, as I live under Bortles class 7 skies in the suburbs of Los Angeles, I hoped my data would still be useful.

It was extremely satisfying to know that my observational data captured the occultation, and that the data may help someone in their research of this minor body. The total body of scientific knowledge is added to by the sometimes large, but most often small, contributions of countless individuals throughout time. I am proud that I could add my little piece of data to mankind’s understanding of the universe.