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Updated: 2005 NOV 15, 02:48 UT
Event Rank : 99
(The event Rank is a measure of the likelihood of observing an event, and is equal to the probability of at least one successful observation by a team of two observers spaced 1/8 path width just inside opposite sides of the predicted path. An event rank of 100 indicates that the prediction is expected to be very accurate).
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 time for your location.
On 2005 Nov 29 UT, the 91 km diameter asteroid (694) Ekard will occult a 7.8 mag star in the constellation Aries for observers along a path across Papua New Guinea and Australia, from far northern tip of Cape York, across central Australia, directly over Alice Springs and then across western South Australia.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 4.2 mag to 12.0 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 10.4 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: .
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 Alt
E. Longitude Latitude U.T. Alt Az Alt Limit 1 Limit 2 Limit 3 Limit 4 Crn
o ' " o ' " h m s o o o o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' "
Longitude Longitude Longitude Longitude
126 8 48 -37 0 0 14 15 57 39 354 -29 125 29 12 126 48 31 125 7 5 127 10 49 0.62
126 41 56 -36 0 0 14 15 47 40 353 -31 126 2 44 127 21 15 125 40 50 127 43 20 0.62
127 15 15 -35 0 0 14 15 36 41 352 -32 126 36 26 127 54 13 126 14 44 128 16 5 0.62
127 48 48 -34 0 0 14 15 26 41 351 -33 127 10 19 128 27 25 126 48 49 128 49 5 0.62
128 22 34 -33 0 0 14 15 15 42 351 -34 127 44 24 129 0 51 127 23 5 129 22 22 0.62
128 56 35 -32 0 0 14 15 4 43 350 -35 128 18 43 129 34 35 127 57 34 129 55 55 0.62
129 30 52 -31 0 0 14 14 53 44 349 -36 128 53 17 130 8 35 128 32 18 130 29 47 0.62
130 5 27 -30 0 0 14 14 41 45 348 -37 129 28 7 130 42 55 129 7 16 131 3 57 0.62
130 40 20 -29 0 0 14 14 30 46 347 -38 130 3 14 131 17 34 129 42 31 131 38 28 0.62
131 15 32 -28 0 0 14 14 18 47 346 -39 130 38 39 131 52 33 130 18 4 132 13 21 0.62
131 51 5 -27 0 0 14 14 6 48 345 -40 131 14 24 132 27 55 130 53 55 132 48 36 0.62
132 27 0 -26 0 0 14 13 54 48 344 -41 131 50 30 133 3 40 131 30 6 133 24 15 0.62
133 3 18 -25 0 0 14 13 41 49 343 -42 132 26 57 133 39 48 132 6 39 134 0 19 0.62
133 40 1 -24 0 0 14 13 29 50 342 -44 133 3 48 134 16 23 132 43 35 134 36 49 0.62
134 17 9 -23 0 0 14 13 16 51 340 -45 133 41 3 134 53 24 133 20 54 135 13 47 0.61
134 54 44 -22 0 0 14 13 3 52 339 -46 134 18 44 135 30 54 133 58 39 135 51 13 0.61
135 32 48 -21 0 0 14 12 49 52 338 -47 134 56 53 136 8 53 134 36 50 136 29 10 0.61
136 11 21 -20 0 0 14 12 36 53 336 -48 135 35 30 136 47 23 135 15 29 137 7 38 0.61
136 50 26 -19 0 0 14 12 22 54 335 -49 136 14 37 137 26 25 135 54 38 137 46 39 0.61
137 30 4 -18 0 0 14 12 9 54 334 -50 136 54 17 138 6 2 136 34 19 138 26 15 0.61
138 10 16 -17 0 0 14 11 55 55 332 -51 137 34 29 138 46 14 137 14 31 139 6 27 0.61
138 51 5 -16 0 0 14 11 41 56 330 -52 138 15 17 139 27 3 137 55 19 139 47 17 0.61
139 32 31 -15 0 0 14 11 26 56 329 -53 138 56 41 140 8 32 138 36 42 140 28 48 0.61
140 14 37 -14 0 0 14 11 12 57 327 -54 139 38 44 140 50 42 139 18 44 141 11 0 0.61
140 57 26 -13 0 0 14 10 57 57 325 -55 140 21 28 141 33 35 140 1 25 141 53 56 0.61
141 40 58 -12 0 0 14 10 42 58 323 -56 141 4 55 142 17 14 140 44 49 142 37 37 0.60
142 25 16 -11 0 0 14 10 27 58 321 -57 141 49 6 143 1 40 141 28 56 143 22 8 0.60
143 10 24 -10 0 0 14 10 12 58 319 -58 142 34 5 143 46 56 142 13 51 144 7 29 0.60
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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