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ASTROMETRIC UPDATE:
OCCULTATION BY (373) MELUSINA - 2002 MAY 01

[OCCULT Prediction + Finder Charts]


UPDATE: 2002 APR 23, 16:02 UT

THE UPDATED PATH

Melusina Update Map

On 2002 May 01 UT (morning of May 2), the 95 km diameter asteroid (373) Melusina will occult a 11.8 mag star in the constellation Scorpius for observers along a path across Western Australia. The updated path passes very close to PERTH, which lies within the path's formal uncertainty.

When the occultation occurs the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 2.4 mag to 14.1 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 10.2 seconds. Because the star is faint and lies only 28 degrees from a 73% sunlit moon, larger telescopes will be required.

This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Ron Stone, astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Gordon Garradd, historical astrometry from AstDys, and the UCAC catalog for the star position.

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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