Steve Conard 4 December 2010

Astronomical League (AL) An association of ~240 astronomical societies from across the USA Basic goal is to encourage interest in astronomy throughout America Have a yearly convention, quarterly newsletter

AL Observing Clubs The AL sponsors ~34 observing clubs Membership in these clubs is earned by achieving required observing goals Membership requirements listed on AL website and/or a pamphlet Each club has a chair who determines if membership requirements have been met Typically, documentation of observing requirements is required to be sent to either the members local societys observing chair or the club chair for verification Members receive a certificate and a pin when they meet all requirements

Current Clubs As the available have increased over the years, many of the newer clubs have become more specialized Examples include Dark nebula Dark sky advocate Flat galaxies Earth orbiting satellite

Possible AL Occultation Club? Aaron Clevenson is one of the two National Observing Programs Coordinators He is also occasionally on the IOTA yahoo group I contacted him, with Davids OK, to inquire if they would be open to receiving a proposal for an occultation club Aaron said they would be interested in seeing a proposal for such a club

Why Pursue an AL Club for Occultations? Increase visibility of our science to other amateurs Generate new IOTA members as AL members work toward the requirements of this observing club Note that AAVSO has done this with their involvement in the AL Variable Star Club

Steps to Start Club Develop list of requirements Fill out Observing Club Proposal form Develop a manual if necessary Current IOTA manual? Work with AL Observing Program Coordinator Create content for AL website Submit complete proposal at least one month before annual convention Need to have a proposed chair for the club

Strawman Observing Requirements Have both a visual and an instrumented variation in requirements Do own predictions with Occult or other software? Total lunar occultation timing Include some double stars? Mix of Ds and Rs Grazing lunar occultations Must file reports to IOTA Have several with multiple D/Rs Compare to known lunar profile? Asteroid occultations Dont require any positives, but must submit a number of meaningful miss reports to IOTA? Require that if video is used, at least some observation attempt be via prepoint?

Should We Proceed With This? Do we want to pursue this? If yes, who should lead the effort I am willing to, but there are more senior IOTA members who are more qualified Proposal, as it is being developed, should be made available to interested IOTA members for their input, and IOTA officers should approve the final submission

Timing? Do we want to shoot for submission this year? ALCon 2011 starts in late June (Bryce Canyon NP) Submission would need to be complete in mid/late May AL encourages those submitting proposals to attend to present their proposal in person