Mid-Atlantic Occultations to Sept. - Updated 2004 March 1
Pennsylvania asteroidal occultation March 12, bright North Carolina graze March 14
Mid-Atlantic Occultations and Expeditions through mid Sept. 2004 Asteroidal Occultations through mid September 2004 EST/ dur. Ap. Date Day EDT Star Mag Asteroid dmag s in. Location Mar 12 Fri 3:56 TYC03000136 11.6 Princetonia 1.7 15 8 Penn., N.J. Mar 26 Fri 1:58 SAO 140135 9.8 Walkure 5.5 5 5 s.VA, WV, OH Mar 31 Tue 21:53 SAO 078441 8.6 Mimi 6.8 2 3 Maine, s. QC Apr 2 Fri 23:18 SAO 140023 10.2 Palatia 4.2 6 6 Maine *** Dates and times above are EST, those below are EDT *** Apr 8 Thu 2:55 ZC 1994 A 6.7 Brest 9.4 1 2 New York City Apr 13 Tue 23:23 PPM 197169 9.8 Roberta 2.2 10 3 Tampa, Dallas Apr 15 Thu 22:09 TYC18711473 12.0 Irene 0.5 5 8 Virginia Apr 21 Wed 3:23 TAC+16 6935 11.5 Thetis 0.7 13 8 N.Y., s.Maine Apr 22 Thu 23:13 TYC49710583 11.0 Roberta 1.2 10 7 North Carolina May 1 Sat 23:16 TYC14041681 11.5 Eurydike 3.6 5 8 Conn., Long Is. May 5 Wed 4:30 TYC62871516 9.7 Nanon 4.1 19 4 n.e. PA, s. NY May 10 Mon 22:27 TYC07531695 10.6 Aeneas 6.1 5 6 n. Florida May 23 Sun 1:22 SAO 158711 9.4 Happelia 3.1 8 3 n.Pennsylvania Jun 5 Sat 22:53 TYC02900392 11.6 Princetonia 2.3 21 8 Maryland & VA Jun 12 Sat 1:23 SAO 185158 10.0 Suleika 3.1 4 5 Carolinas Jun 23 Wed 23:03 SAO 118999 9.6 Clarissa 6.4 2 5 Maryland Jun 30 Wed 3:02 TYC63101494 10.8 Helga 3.5 9 6 Lake Superior? Jul 5 Mon 4:47 TYC69130447 10.9 Fidelio 2.9 7 6 upper Mich.? Jul 18 Sun 0:26 TYC05312020 11.9 Daphne 0.4 20 8 DC,MD,VA,DE,NJ Jul 24 Sat 23:49 TYC62330665 11.6 Erigone 2.7 13 7 seNC?,eSC,sGA Jul 31 Sat 5:43 TYC51620581 10.2 Olga 1.7 8 5 n. Florida Aug 3 Tue 23:58 2UC26778998 13.8 Chiron 3.4 10 11 Venezuela Aug 4 Wed 1:41 2UC26798061 13.7 2000 PA30 10.8 3 11 Brazil Aug 12 Thu 3:15 TYC06291213 12.1 Terpsichore 1.2 11 8 Ohio Aug 14 Sat 23:54 TYC22510999 9.7 Angola 5.3 9 5 Quebec Aug 22 Sun 5:55 2UC29940532 12.7 2002 PD155 10.1 7 10 Ontario Sep 4 Sat 5:16 TYC24130137 11.7 Lumen 1.5 5 8 Pennsylvania Sep 5 Sun 4:52 TYC52440017 11.8 Camilla 1.0 16 8 sWI,cenMI,Ont. Sep 12 Sun 1:09 SAO 36280 A 7.2 Palisana 2.2 13 2 DC,MD,nVA,sePA Notes: All events in March, and those on April 13 and May 5 have have recent astrometric updates so that their paths are now rather accurate. The other paths could be in error by a few hundred, or even several hundred, miles. Mar. 23: Itha is only 20 km = 0.010"; this will be of interest only if the path shifts north. Mar. 26: Walkure is 38 km = 0.026". Mar. 31: Mimi is 46 km = 0.030". Apr. 13: Roberta is 94 km = 0.10". Aug. 4: Kuiper Belt Object. Aug. 22: Kuiper Belt Object. Sep. 5: An attempt will be made to predict the path of the occultation by the satellite of Camilla. Sep. 12: This is the best asteroidal occultation of 2004 in the Mid- Atlantic region. The star has a 9.3-mag. companion 0.6" away in PA 108 deg. The secondary star is much brighter than the 12th-mag. asteroid and will remain visible while the primary is occulted, so the dmag. is calculated with this assumption, that the components this close together will not be resolved. The path for the secondary star occultation lies about 220 km north of that for the primary, but the dmag. when it is occulted will be only 0.2, quite difficult to detect, but possible with video or photoelectric equipment if the seeing is reasonably good. Especially for the fainter stars and events of shorter duration, we will plan no observations unless an astrometric update indicates a reasonable chance for an occultation in the Mid-Atlantic states. The asteroidal occultation section of the IOTA Web site has finder charts for these events while updated path maps, and often detailed finder charts, can be found at Steve Preston's Web site. _________________________________________________________________________ Grazing Occultations through August, 2004 EST/ DATE Day EDT Star Mag % alt CA Location Feb 25 Wed 19:04 SAO 93066 8.0 29+ 49 10S Gettysburg & York, PA Mar 11 Thu 4:00 SAO 158974 7.9 77- 33 14S spM2 LaPlata,MD & Fairfax,VA Mar 14 Sun 5:37 ZC 2617 4.5 44- 23 10S Apex & Smithfield, NC Mar 22 Mon 19:32 SAO 110038 8.5 4+ 8 6S Herndon,VA;DC;Woodmore&BowieMD Mar 29 Mon 20:24 SAO 79530 8.2 60+ 70 6N Manassas,VA; Hughesville,MD Mar 30 Tue 20:32 SAO 80209 7.0 69+ 75 6N Ashland, VA Apr 2 Fri 1:52 42 Leonis 6.2 87+ 31 6N Gettysb.PA;Westmnstr&Balto,MD *** Dates and times above are EST, those below are EDT *** Apr 23 Fri 22:44 SAO 77229 7.8 17+ 14 8N Ladysmith, VA May 21 Fri 22:16 SAO 78041 7.8 7+ 7 12N Frostburg, MD; Haymarket, VA May 22 Sat 21:27 ZC 1067 7.1 12+ 25 13N Buchanon & Bracey, VA Jun 14 Mon 4:08 ZC 0423 6.3 11- 7 9N Seaford, DE Jul 11 Sun 4:29 SAO 93055 8.9 30- 22 15N Bryantown,MD& BowlingGreen,VA Jul 13 Tue 5:25 SAO 76555 7.2 14- 31 17N Varina Grove, VA; Sun -7 Jul 28 Wed 22:57 ZC 2583 5.8 89+ 24 10N Carmel Church, VA Aug 3 Tue 4:21 psi 1 Aqr 4.2 91- 37 22N Rodanthe, NC; Sun alt. -10 Aug 12 Thu 4:48 SAO 78641 8.3 12- 20 17N Amaranth, PA Sun alt. -17 Aug 12 Thu 4:49 SAO 78644 8.8 12- 22 17N * Hampton, VA Sun alt. -17 Aug 12 Thu 5:14 SAO 78660 8.9 12- 26 17N Barnesv.,Mt.Airy,Woodbine,MD Notes: Some grazes will not be attempted if expeditions are undertaken for asteroidal occultations within 36 hours of the graze. * in the Notes column means that no DC-area expedition is planned. The Feb. 25th (Ash Wednesday) graze was timed from 3 stations in North York, Pennsylvania. Aug. 12, SAO 78660: The Sun alt. will be -12 deg. _________________________________________________________________________ Total Lunar Occultations The better total lunar occultations through early April 2004 visible from throughout the Washington-Baltimore greater metropolitan area are listed below. Many can be accurately timed by aiming a camcorder into a low-power eyepiece of your telescope and recording WWV with the audio. DATE Day EST Ph Star Mag % alt CA Sp. Notes Mar 1 Mon 19:07 D SAO 078957 7.5 76+ 69 78S G8 Mar 1 Mon 19:51 D ZC 1067 7.1 76+ 76 30N K2 Close double Mar 2 Tue 1:02 D SAO 079122 7.6 77+ 34 86S K2 Close double Mar 2 Tue 1:56 D ZC 1089 6.7 78+ 24 84S K0 Mar 2 Tue 2:31 D SAO 079164 7.4 78+ 18 39N G8 Close double Mar 2 Tue 23:05 D omega Cnc 5.9 85+ 65 39N G8 ZC 1206 Mar 2 Tue 23:32 D ZC 1211 6.3 85+ 60 83S A1 Mar 4 Thu 0:45 D ZC 1334 7.0 92+ 54 46S G5 Mar 4 Thu 20:31 D ZC 1435 6.5 96+ 52 39N K0 Mar 4 Thu 21:25 D ZC 1436 6.8 96+ 61 48N K0 Mar 5 Fri 18:25 D 46 Leonis 5.4 99+ 17 55N M2 Az 85;term.14"; ZC 1544 Mar 9 Tue 0:31 R theta Vir 4.4 93- 40 57N A1 ZC1891;mg2 6.8".5,mg3 8 Mar 11 Thu 4:06 R SAO 158974 7.9 77- 32 24S M2 NSV 20225, graze Mar 12 Fri 1:28 R ZC 2274 6.9 67- 14 62S B9 Azimuth 135 deg. Mar 13 Sat 2:39 R SAO 184849 7.4 56- 12 42N K5 Azimuth 139 deg. Mar 14 Sun 3:20 R ZC 2601 6.8 44- 9 39N K4 Azimuth 137 deg. Mar 14 Sun 5:27 R SAO 186286 7.1 43- 20 56S B7 Sun alt. -11 Mar 14 Sun 6:01 R ZC 2617 4.6 43- 22 37S K0 Sun-4 grz. mg2 5.9 ".3 Mar 15 Mon 3:27 R tau Sgr 3.3 33- 1 29N K1 ZC2784 az.127,closeDbl. Mar 22 Mon 19:32 G SAO 110038 8.5 4+ 8 6N G0 graze, az 275, double? Mar 22 Mon 19:40 D ZC 247 6.3 4+ 6 85N F2 azimuth 276 deg. Mar 25 Thu 19:25 D SAO 076406 7.8 23+ 42 88N F5 Mar 26 Fri 19:46 D ZC 733 7.2 31+ 49 59N A0 mag2 8.8 ".2,mg3 10 ".5 Mar 26 Fri 22:26 D 98 Tauri 5.8 32+ 19 21S A0 ZC743,mag2 9.9 95",PA289 Mar 26 Fri 23:15 D SAO 076883 8.0 33+ 11 49S G2 Azimuth 294 deg. Mar 28 Sun 20:27 D SAO 078641 8.3 50+ 62 59N M0 Mar 28 Sun 20:37 D SAO 078644 8.8 50+ 60 44N A0 Mar 28 Sun 20:38 D ZC 1028 7.5 50+ 59 46S G8 Mar 28 Sun 20:41 D SAO 078648 8.9 50+ 59 68S K2 Mar 28 Sun 21:15 D SAO 078660 8.9 51+ 52 30N K7 Mar 28 Sun 23:35 D SAO 078740 8.3 51+ 26 62N K0 Mar 29 Mon 0:51 D SAO 078784 8.3 52+ 13 59N A0 Azimuth 295 deg. Mar 29 Mon 23:34 D ZC 1162 8.2 61+ 35 83S K2 Mar 30 Tue 0:56 D 76 Gem 5.3 61+ 20 73N K5 ZC 1169 Mar 30 Tue 19:21 D CX Cancri 6.1 69+ 73 87S F0 ZC 1270; spec. binary Mar 30 Tue 21:28 D ups'n1 Cnc 5.7 70+ 67 45N F0 ZC 1274 graze, CT,s.NY Mar 31 Wed 21:05 D ZC 1390 7.7 79+ 71 79S G0 Apr 1 Thu 20:27 D ZC 1499 7.1 86+ 62 36N K0 Apr 2 Fri 1:47 D 42 Leonis 6.2 88+ 32 15N A1 ZC1514;graze,Baltimore Apr 2 Fri 22:04 D ZC 1612 7.3 93+ 61 42N F5 Apr 3 Sat 22:59 D ZC 1728 6.7 98+ 54 79S M4 D following the time denotes a disappearance, while R indicates that the event is a reappearance. When a power (x; actually, zoom factor) is given in the Notes, the event can probably be recorded directly with a camcorder of that power with no telescope needed. The times are for Greenbelt, MD, and will be good to within +/-1 min. for other locations in the Washington- Baltimore metropolitan areas unless the cusp angle (CA) is less than 30 deg., in which case, it might be as much as 5 minutes different for other locations across the region. Mag is the star's magnitude. % is the percent of the Moon's visible disk that is sunlit, followed by a + indicating that the Moon is waxing and - showing that it is waning. So 0 is new moon, 50+ is first quarter, 100+ or - is full moon, and 50- is last quarter. The Moon is crescent if % is less than 50 and is gibbous if it is more than 50. On Nov. 8, there will be some occultations during a lunar eclipse, where the "sign" following the % sunlit is "E", indicating that the percent is the percent of the Moon's disk that is NOT covered by the umbra. Cusp Angle is described more fully at the main IOTA Web site - see above. Sp. is the star's spectral type (color), O,B,blue; A,F,white; G,yellow; K,orange; M,N,S,C red Currently, the IOTA occultation line, 301-474-4945, is not working. Some additional information, including sometimes expedition updates, especially over the weekend, can be found at the main IOTA Web site. Timing equipment and even telescopes can be loaned for most expeditions that we actually undertake; we are always shortest of observers who can fit these events in their schedule, so we hope that you might be able to. Good luck with your observations. _____________________________________ David Dunham, e-mail dunham@erols.com, 2004 March 1 Phone home 301-474-4722; office 240-228-5609; car 301-526-5590