Lunar Grazing Occultation Maps for 2008 - Updated 2008 Feb. 19
Information about grazing occultations during the 2008 lunar eclipses has been added at the bottom of this page, and a link is provided to Brad Timerson's interactive Google maps for the ones in North America for the February eclipse
by Eberhard Riedel
Below are links to maps and data for the brighter lunar grazing occultations during 2008. There are 4 maps of the world showing grazing occultations of stars brighter than mag. 3.0. There are also two maps of Europe, and one of eastern Australia. We have data for New Zealand, but for some reason, the map was not produced, and also the lines in the data files are wrapped; these problems will be corrected as soon as possible. These regional maps show favorable grazes of stars of mag. 5.5 and brighter except for Europe, where the limit is 6.0. For each area, there is a table of all of the plotted grazes giving basic information, and there is a much more extensive text file giving detailed path data and circumstances at 1-degree intervals of longitude. Similar maps for North America, including stars to 7th mag., are below and have been published in the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's (RASC's) Observer's Handbook 2008 on pages 167 - 172, and a map showing just the brighter events, to about mag. 5.5, is also included (previously, this was published in (usually) the January issue of Sky and Telescope, but in 2008, in the "Lunar Occultation Highlights for 2008" article on pages 76-78, only tables are given, not the map. In the color maps you only find solid lines now, and the phases of each event are distinguished by color; in the black and white maps (smaller files), the lines are dotted, dashed, or solid: - nighttime dark limb: black or solid lines - nighttime bright limb: yellow or dotted lines (large dots for very bright objects) - daytime dark- and bright limb: blue or small dots (vertical dashes for very bright objects) I use thick lines for all occulted bodies 1.5 mag. and brighter. Much information about observing occultations of all types is in "Chasing the Shadow: The IOTA Occultation Observer's Manual" available for free download here. __________________________________ Worldwide grazing occultations to mag. 3.0 Table Color Map, Jan. 1-Feb. 29 Color Map, Mar. 1-May 14 Color Map, May 15-Aug. 15 Color Map, Aug. 16-Dec. 31 Black and White Map, Jan. 1-Feb. 29 Black and White Map, Mar. 1-May 14 Black and White Map, May 15-Aug. 15 Black and White Map, Aug. 16-Dec. 31 Path data ___________________________________ The Best Grazing occultations in North America to mag. 6.0 Table Map (only black and white) Path data ___________________________________ Grazing occultations in North America to mag. 7.5 Table These detailed maps for North America do not have color-coded versions. Map, Jan. 1 - Feb. 15 Map, Feb. 16 - March 31 Map, April 1 - May 10 Map, May 11 - June 30 Map, July 1 - Sept. 15 Map, Sept. 16 - Oct. 15 Map, Oct. 16 - Nov. 17 Map, Nov. 18 - Dec. 31 In the RASC Observer's handbook, the wrong date ranges (from 2007) are given for most of the 2008 maps, on pages 169-172; the correct ranges are given here. Path data The maps of these North American grazes, and the tables, but not the path data, will be on Bob Sandy's page of the main IOTA Web site. Besides this information, also available on that Web page are predictions of total lunar occultations for 40 major North American cities and the detailed IOTA graze predictions and profiles within 200 miles of Bob Sandy's home in Blue Springs, MO, just east of Kansas City. Also there is a list of all known successful grazing occultation expeditions, as published in Occultation Newsletter, that were conducted between 1974 and 1986. Reduction profiles (plots of the observations relative to Watts' charts of the edge of the Moon), most prepared by Bob Sandy, are also available for many of the larger graze expeditions. You can zoom in on some of these paths using Brad Timerson's interactive Google maps Web site. But you need to know the offsets for the graze zone in your area; we can help you determine that. Brad can usually add events not on his Web site by request to him at btimerson@rochester.rr.com . These are for the eastern U.S.A. and Canada; Derek Breit often posts similar information for western U.S.A. grazes here, usually in the Regional Events, Google Maps, or SF Grazes items, and Steve Messner often posts similar interactive maps for the Midwestern U.S.A. here. ___________________________________ Grazing occultations in Europe to mag. 6.0 Table Color Map, Jan.-Aug. Color Map, Sept.-Dec. Black and White Map, Jan.-Aug. Black and White Map, Sept.-Dec. Path data ___________________________________ Grazing occultations in eastern Australia to mag. 5.5 Table Color Map Black and White Map Path data ___________________________________ Grazing occultations in New Zealand to mag. 5.5 Table Color Map Black and White Map Path data ___________________________________ Grazing occultations during the total lunar eclipse of Feb. 21 to mag. 10.0 Table Map Path data Brad Timerson has set up interactive Google maps for these grazes that cross North America. ___________________________________ Grazing occultations during the deep partial lunar eclipse of Aug. 16 to mag. 10.0 Table Map Path data ___________________________________ Maps and tables of grazing occultations similar to the above for 2007 are here. ___________________________________ Dr. Eberhard Riedel IOTA-ES Public Relations Mobile +49 179 1253558 e-mail: E_Riedel@msn.com _____________________________________ Page set up by David Dunham Phones home 301-474-4722; office 240-228-5609; car 301-526-5590 emails dunham@starpower.net or office david.dunham@jhuapl.edu