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ASTROMETRIC UPDATE:
OCCULTATION BY (93) MINERVA - 2002 FEB 24

[Prediction by OCCULT + Finder Charts]


UPDATE: 2002 FEB 18, 00:40 UT

THE UPDATED PATH

Minerva Update Map

On the evening of 2002 Feb 24 the 141 km diameter asteroid (93) Minerva will occult a 10.5 mag star in the constellation Gemini for observers along a path across the South Pacific and the Tasman Sea. The path passes close to both the far north and far south of New Zealand (at about 9:22 - 9:25 UT), with Auckland a little over one track width to the southeast.

In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 2.5 mag to 12.9 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 23.6 seconds.

This update is based on TMO astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Bill Owen, historical astrometry from AstDys, and the following catalogs for the star position: UCAC, 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 :

The Occultation Path : Data for the target star : Data for the minor planet :

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]


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