Distortion mechanisms for lunar occultation diffraction patterns

Abstract

Relative magnitudes of the factors causing distortion of optical lunar occultation observations are compared. Factors considered are: the observing equipment, including telescope diameter and equipment bandwidth, the light path to the observer, including atmospheric diffraction and refraction effects, the nature of the lunar limb, including effects perpendicular to and in the line of sight, and the nature of light emitted from the star. Curves are given to facilitate the design of the equipment.