CRATER TIMING REDUCTION PROCEDURE

Theodore Lunar Observatory, Australia 

Observation files

Most observations reported need to be edited to suit the format of my input files. An example is shown below:

gokceoglu orkun
20070303
3
H.MS
COPERNICUS,21.5445,,,
PLATO,22.2107,22.2358,,
EUDOXUS,22.2540,22.2837,,

It is important that the date be in the form yyyymmdd, the number of lines of data below the time format be entered as shown, and the time format be H.MS or H.HH. Finally the crater names are to be spelled correctly (see all craters listed in my CRATER2.DAT) and four timings must be entered as shown as 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C (if a timing has not be made it must be shown as a non-entry, as illustrated above).

Any mid crater timings or mountains should be preceded by – (a negative sign)

The observers crater timings file must be saved in the correct folders and for the appropriate eclipse date, here in CTR2/OBS/20070303 as GOKCEOG.OBS. Note that the file name is to be no more than 7 characters long to suit MS DOS requirements.

List of Observers

Prepare a list of observers for each eclipse as shown below:

4
COOPER
ROSA
VITAL
GOKCEOG

Note that each observer's name is to be no more than 7 characters long to suit MS DOS requirements, and the list of observers is to be preceded by the number of observers. The observers file must be saved in the correct folders and for the appropriate eclipse date, here in folder CTR2/OBS/20070303 as file 20070303.OBS.

Reduce Observers Crater Timings

You will need to download the Crater Timing Reduction software suite (CTR2.zip) from my web page at http://www.netspeed.com.au/minnah/2007/ctr2.html and expand all files into a folder named CTR2. All the necessary data files will be available for all listed lunar eclipses up to and including those in the year 2012. This download will also provide Menu3.exe for selection of the reduction program at item 5, as shown in the screen capture below:

Operation of Option 5

 When option 5 is selected you will need to ensure that the appropriate series has been selected (Use C for the Soulsby series) – always use UPPER CASE, next that the date has been input as 20070303 (or included in the number of dates file – maximum 10), next the value of umbral oblateness is agreed as 1/298.26 by inputting Y, all as shown below:

When the program is executed all observers on the list will be reduced as shown below:

As no more eclipse crater timings need to be reduced for the eclipse date used, answer "More Eclipses " as N, or just hit the ENTER key. This action will return you to the menu for output of a summary table of all observers at Option 6 of the menu, as shown below:

Select Option 1 for the summary and then option 2 for a complete listing of all accepted crater timings. Both of these outputs can be edited using MS Word to form a tabulated summary list as shown below for this eclipse:

A similar but much larger list has been produced for the full reductions, too large to show as a screen capture here. Both of these original files can be seen as 20070303.TA2 or 20070303.RED after reduction and listing described above. The individual reduction for an observer can be found as gokceog.CTR in the OBS/20070303 folder.

There are other options available in the software which are best explored by using the options in the Menus. Help can be provided by email by contacting me at minnah@netspeed.com.au.

Byron Soulsby

Thursday, 14 June 2007