ASTROMETRIC UPDATE:
OCCULTATION BY (403) CYANE - 2001 DECEMBER 26
[Prediction using OCCULT software + Finder Charts]
The prediction given by OCCULT crosses the southern parts of the North Island of New Zealand. Further west, the path just misses the southern tip of Tasmania.
UPDATE: 23 DECEMBER 2001
THE UPDATED PATH
This updated path lies around 5 pathwidth to the south of that given by Occult with little difference is time. The path just misses the far southeastern tip of the South Island of New Zealand with the closest approach to Invercargill around 14:10:10 UT.
The error tolerance on this calculation is such that much of the South Island south of Christchurch has a reasonable chance of seeing an occultation. However, the star will be at the relatively low altitude of 17 to 20 degrees at the time - complicated by the bright moon relatively nearby and the faintness of the star (magnitude = 11.2).
Calculation Source
This prediction update has been computed by Steve Preston of Medina, Washington (state) in the United States based on astrometry from Ron Stone of the US Naval Observatory - Flagstaff Station supplemented with data from the AstDys database. The UCAC position of the target star has been used combined with proper motion data from Tycho 2.
Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.oz.net/~stevepr/Asteroids/asteroid.htm
EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY:
- Date and approx. UT time of event: 2001 December 26 - 14:10 UT
- Magnitude of target star: 11.2
- Magnitude drop [mag]: 1.7
- Estimated maximum duration [s]: 4.4
- Angular distance to moon, phase of moon [deg,%]: 36, 83%
The Occultation Path:
- Approximate width [km]: 143
- Uncertainty [path widths]: +/- 1.02 (1 sigma)
- Remarks: Uncertainities are given on the basis of the nominal star position errors and the expected asteroid positional accuracy.
Data for the target star:
- Name: TYC 1301-00865-1
- Constellation: Taurus
- J2000 position [h,m,s; o,',"]: 5h 29m 34.5338s; +17o 40' 51.412"
- Position source: UCAC + Tycho 2 PM
- Estimated accuracy ["]: 0.041" (0.030", 0.030")
- V mag [mag]: 11.2
- B-V [mag]: +0.28
- Remarks:
- The target star is in southern Taurus. It lies on the north east edge of the sparse naked eye open cluster Collinder 65 and is 35 minutes of arc northeast of 117 Tauri (magnitude = 5.8). A set of finder charts can be seen along with the Occult prediction by clicking here.
Data for the minor planet:
- Number, name: (403) Cyane
- Approx. diameter [km]: 49
- Source of used astrometry: US Naval Observatory - Flagstaff Station (Ron Stone), AstDys
- Number of used observations: 367
- Number of rejected observations: 46
- Time covered by the observations: 1900 07 03 - 2001 12 18
- Update computed by: Steve Preston, Medina, Washington, USA. (OrbFit).
IMPORTANT NOTE!
Astrometric updates such as these should not be taken as definitive, but rather only as an indication of where the true track may lie relative to the original predicted track. Observers must bear in mind that later astrometry, in which the target star is measured in the same field as the asteroid, may still reveal substantial changes to the predicted track and time of the event. For this reason it is most important that observers far from the predicted track still monitor the event.
Use these links for further information:
[Planetary Occultations]
[Using the Predictions]
[Observing Details]
[Timing Details]
[Reporting Details]
[Report Form]
[Asteroid Occultation Results]
This page may have been updated since 23 December 2001.
Hit your browser's RELOAD button to get the latest version.
[Site Map]
[What's an Occultation?]
[Total Occultations]
[Grazing Occultations]
[Planetary Occultations]
[Jovian Satellite Eclipses]
[Timing Occultations]
[Reporting Observations]
[Coming Events]
[Software]
[About Us]
[Publications]
[Membership]
[Links]
[Top of Page][Return to Home Page]
