|
|
THE UPDATED PATH
(Note: The duration given in the line below is the interval during which the occultation shadow sweeps across the Earth - please see the minute markers on the map to determine the approximate the time for your location)
On 2004 Nov 17 UT, the 78 km diameter asteroid (80) Sappho will occult a 9.6 mag star in the constellation Taurus for observers along a path across New Zealand.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 1.1 mag to 10.1 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 8.7 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Ron Stone, TMO astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Bill Owen, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: UCAC.
Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/
EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY :Important Note regarding Accuracy:
The uncertainty interval in path widths given above (and shown as a 1-sigma uncertainty ellipse on the plot) refers to RMS deviation and is applied as a +/- range. In other words, a path uncertainty of 1.0 path widths means that the actual center of the asteroid's shadow path should fall within plus or minus 1 path width of the plotted path center. However path errors larger than 1 sigma have been observed so observers should be alert for primary occultations within plus or minus 3 sigma of the updated path.
Further, almost all asteroidal satellites discovered so far have been found within 10 diameters of the asteroid (since this distance is deep enough within the gravitational well to be stable over long timescales). Therefore, if monitoring for secondary events, observing out to about 10 path-widths either side of the predicted track remains worthwhile.
We therefore recommend that you monitor for events if your observing location is up to +/- 10 path-widths from the predicted track. If not monitoring for occultations by secondary bodies you should observe from locations within 3 sigma of the nominal path.
In terms of time, the predictions are now usually accurate to about +/- 0.3 minute so you should be most attentive during the predicted minute of the event. However if intending to catch a potential satellite occultation you should start observing at least 10 times the predicted central duration before the predicted closest approach time for your location, and continue for a similar period afterwards.
Centre Star Star Sun Path Limits Error Limits
E. Longitude Latitude U.T. Alt Az Alt Limit 1 Limit 2 Limit 3 Limit 4
o ' " o ' " h m s o o o o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' "
Longitude Longitude Longitude Longitude
150 4 12 -67 0 0 15 49 4 7 341 -1 147 51 39 152 21 39 146 49 35 153 29 36
149 58 13 -66 0 0 15 49 1 8 341 -2 147 50 56 152 9 59 146 51 16 153 15 2
149 58 28 -65 0 0 15 48 56 9 341 -3 147 55 50 152 5 15 146 58 18 153 7 47
150 4 17 -64 0 0 15 48 51 10 341 -4 148 5 46 152 6 41 147 10 7 153 7 0
150 15 7 -63 0 0 15 48 46 11 340 -4 148 20 15 152 13 39 147 26 17 153 12 0
150 30 32 -62 0 0 15 48 40 11 340 -5 148 38 55 152 25 39 147 46 27 153 22 16
150 50 9 -61 0 0 15 48 34 12 340 -6 149 1 25 152 42 14 148 10 18 153 37 21
151 13 41 -60 0 0 15 48 27 13 339 -7 149 27 30 153 3 5 148 37 34 153 56 51
151 40 52 -59 0 0 15 48 20 14 339 -8 149 56 58 153 27 54 149 8 5 154 20 30
152 11 31 -58 0 0 15 48 12 15 338 -8 150 29 37 153 56 29 149 41 41 154 48 4
152 45 29 -57 0 0 15 48 4 16 338 -9 151 5 20 154 28 39 150 18 13 155 19 20
153 22 38 -56 0 0 15 47 55 17 337 -10 151 44 0 155 4 15 150 57 37 155 54 11
154 2 53 -55 0 0 15 47 45 17 336 -10 152 25 33 155 43 11 151 39 47 156 32 29
154 46 11 -54 0 0 15 47 36 18 335 -11 153 9 55 156 25 24 152 24 40 157 14 11
155 32 29 -53 0 0 15 47 25 19 335 -11 153 57 6 157 10 51 153 12 17 157 59 14
156 21 48 -52 0 0 15 47 14 20 334 -12 154 47 5 157 59 32 154 2 36 158 47 38
157 14 9 -51 0 0 15 47 3 20 333 -13 155 39 54 158 51 29 154 55 39 159 39 25
158 9 35 -50 0 0 15 46 50 21 332 -13 156 35 35 159 46 45 155 51 29 160 34 38
159 8 12 -49 0 0 15 46 38 21 331 -13 157 34 14 160 45 26 156 50 10 161 33 24
160 10 6 -48 0 0 15 46 24 22 329 -14 158 35 56 161 47 40 157 51 49 162 35 51
Latitude Latitude Latitude Latitude
161 0 0 -47 13 54 15 46 14 22 329 -14 -45 50 42 -48 45 39 -45 13 10 -49 33 39
162 0 0 -46 20 53 15 46 1 23 327 -14 -45 0 47 -47 48 31 -44 24 30 -48 34 0
163 0 0 -45 30 19 15 45 48 23 326 -15 -44 12 58 -46 54 24 -43 37 47 -47 37 44
164 0 0 -44 42 1 15 45 36 23 325 -15 -43 27 6 -46 2 58 -42 52 55 -46 44 29
165 0 0 -43 55 49 15 45 23 24 324 -15 -42 43 5 -45 14 2 -42 9 49 -45 53 56
166 0 0 -43 11 37 15 45 11 24 323 -15 -42 0 51 -44 27 23 -41 28 24 -45 5 53
167 0 0 -42 29 17 15 44 59 24 322 -15 -41 20 19 -43 42 52 -40 48 36 -44 20 8
168 0 0 -41 48 44 15 44 47 24 321 -15 -40 41 24 -43 0 21 -40 10 22 -43 36 31
169 0 0 -41 9 55 15 44 35 24 320 -15 -40 4 3 -42 19 45 -39 33 40 -42 54 55
170 0 0 -40 32 44 15 44 23 24 319 -15 -39 28 14 -41 40 57 -38 58 25 -42 15 14
171 0 0 -39 57 8 15 44 12 24 318 -14 -38 53 53 -41 3 53 -38 24 36 -41 37 21
172 0 0 -39 23 5 15 44 0 24 317 -14 -38 20 58 -40 28 29 -37 52 11 -41 1 13
173 0 0 -38 50 30 15 43 49 24 316 -14 -37 49 27 -39 54 41 -37 21 7 -40 26 45
174 0 0 -38 19 23 15 43 38 24 315 -14 -37 19 18 -39 22 26 -36 51 23 -39 53 53
175 0 0 -37 49 41 15 43 27 23 314 -13 -36 50 29 -38 51 41 -36 22 58 -39 22 35
176 0 0 -37 21 21 15 43 16 23 313 -13 -36 23 0 -38 22 24 -35 55 50 -38 52 47
177 0 0 -36 54 22 15 43 6 23 312 -13 -35 56 47 -37 54 33 -35 29 58 -38 24 28
178 0 0 -36 28 44 15 42 56 23 311 -12 -35 31 51 -37 28 6 -35 5 20 -37 57 35
179 0 0 -36 4 23 15 42 45 22 310 -12 -35 8 9 -37 3 0 -34 41 56 -37 32 6
180 0 0 -35 41 19 15 42 35 22 309 -12 -34 45 42 -36 39 16 -34 19 44 -37 7 59
Use these links for further information:
[Planetary Occultations]
[Using the Predictions]
[Observing Details]
[Timing Details]
[Reporting Details]
[Report Form]
[Asteroid Occultation Results]
[Top of Page][Return to Home Page]