Richard Nugent Records 3 Asteroidal Occultations in First Two Nights of 2003; Other Recent Observations
New: 2003 Jan. 6; Updated Jan. 7The past week has already been very active with asteroidal occultation observations, indicating that 2003 could surpass even last year's record. The occultation by the prototypical outer belt asteroid (153) Hilda was timed from at least 4 stations in Japan on December 31, capping 2002's efforts. But right away, the first asteroidal occultation of 2003, by (233) Asterope, was video taped at 3h UT of Jan. 1 by Paul Maley and Richard Nugent from two locations in Texas. And the next night, Richard recorded two more asteroidal occultations, by (196) Philomela and (44) Nysa, from near Jai, New Mexico, the first time anyone has observed 3 asteroidal occultations in 2 nights, and the second time that anyone has observed 2 of these events in 1 night [the first time that was done was on Jan. 17, 1999, when T. Kojima in Japan timed occultations by (510) Mabella and (820) Adriana]. And Paul recorded a 2.3-second occultation by (726) Joella Jan. 3 UT near Preston's central line at Cash, Texas, north of Dallas, making 4 events already observed during the first 3 days of 2003! Also observed since my last general message was the occultation by (334) Chicago from at least 8 stations from Pennsylvania to Alberta on Dec. 24 (read more about it here), and the occultation of HIP 21529 A by (392) Wilhelmina on Dec. 27, by Frank Anet in California and Roger Venable in South Carolina. The occultation by (44) Nysa on Jan. 2 was also video recorded by Peter Armstrong at his observatory in Limpia, Texas. Below is my message to Richard Nugent congratulating him on his observation of three asteroidal occultations in one night, and his message with the reports of the events. Richard, Many thanks for your reports below of the occultations that you video recorded of (233) Asterope on Jan. 1, (196) Philomela on Jan. 2, and (44) Nysa on Jan. 2 You wrote: "Three (3) asteroid report form attached. That makes 7 in a row for me since Athor 10-15-02, which included 2 last night. I'm really feeling lucky now, so I'm going out to buy a lottery ticket." As far as I know, nobody else has previously observed 3 asteroidal occultations during 2 nights, and the first 2 nights of 2003 at that! The only other case of an observer timing two asteroidal occultations in one night that I know of was by T. Kojima in Japan on 1999 Jan. 17, when he observed an occultation of 9.8-mag. SAO 117797 by (510) Mabella and of 5.7-mag. SAO 119508 by (820) Adriana. David ________________________________________________________________ IOTA ASTEROIDAL OCCULTATION REPORT FORM Asteroid (or other object): 233 Asterope Star: TYC 726-00419-1 Date (U.T.):01 Jan 2003 Predicted Time (U.T.): 3:15:08 Observer Name: Richard Nugent 1-800-753-6977 Cell Phone: 713-805-7344 Postal Address: P.O. Box 131034, Houston, Texas 77219 E-mail Address: JackiesDad@weblore.com Fax: (713)524-1993 TELESCOPE: Aperture: 4" Focal length: 1000mm f/10 Type:Meade 2045D Eyepiece Power: n/a Observing site name: 5 miles east of Carizzo Springs, TX on Hwy 85 at Pinic area. Longitude: West 99deg 45min 15.2sec Latitude: 28deg 32min 58.8sec N. Determined by Garmin GPS model "Venture" unit. DATUM: WGS84 Height above sea level: 504 m How determined?:Garmin GPS model "etrex" NOTE: This GPS unit quoted accuracy to 5 meters. Sky Transparency (Circle one, or delete two): Very Good, Stars m = 6.5 visible. Star Image Stability ("seeing"; as above): good, images were steady Other Conditions: (Wind, Clouds, Lights, etc.): Temperature during occultation approx. 50 F. No wind. Time Source: WWV 5,000 kHz Recording method: Image intensified video Supercircuits PC-164C and WWV direct feed simultaneously into camcorder. Was the Asteroid Visible in your Scope? It was faintly visible on video. EVENT TIMINGS: (All times in Universal Time) Universal Time Estimated Accuracy, Reaction (estimated error) h m s Time Started Recording: 3: 14: 45 Star and Object Merged: Disappearance: 3: 16: 17.8 +/- 0.1 sec Reappearance: 3: 16: 26.8 +/- 0.1 sec Star and Object Separated: Stopped Recording: 3: 18: 15.0 DURATION OF EVENT: 9.0 +/- 0.1 seconds ---"D" and "R" both instantaneous---- Was your reaction time applied to the above timings? Yes, reductions done from video ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Drove to Carrizo Springs, TX and set up at picnic area on Hwy 85. Good seeing, steady images. Both "D" and "R" were instantaneous. No other events seen during recording interval. This event made 5 in a row. ________________________________________________________________ IOTA ASTEROIDAL OCCULTATION REPORT FORM Asteroid (or other object): 196 Philomela Star: TAC +05 00062 Date (U.T.):02 Jan 2003 Predicted Time (U.T.): 1:13:10 Observer Name: Richard Nugent 1-800-753-6977 E-mail Address: JackiesDad@weblore.com Fax: (713)524-1993 TELESCOPE: Aperture: 4" Focal length: 1000mm f/10 Type:Meade 2045D Eyepiece Power: n/a Observing site name: 5 miles west of Jai,NM on Hwy 128 Longitude: West 103deg 16min 46.4sec Latitude: 32deg 8min 14.2sec North. Determined by Garmin GPS model "Venture" unit. DATUM: WGS84 Height above sea level: 956 m How determined?:Garmin GPS model "etrex" NOTE: This GPS unit quoted accuracy to 5 meters. Sky Transparency (Circle one, or delete two): Very Good, Stars m = 6.5 visible. Star Image Stability ("seeing"; as above): good, images were steady Other Conditions: (Wind, Clouds, Lights, etc.): Temperature during occultation approx. 45 F. Sustained winds of 20-25 mph prevailed. Time Source: WWV 5,000 kHz Recording method: Image intensified video Supercircuits PC-164C and WWV direct feed simultaneously into camcorder. Was the Asteroid Visible in your Scope? It was faintly visible on video. EVENT TIMINGS: (All times in Universal Time) Universal Time Accuracy h m s Started Recording: 1: 10: 45 Star and Object Merged: Disappearance: 1: 13: 15.7 +/- 0.1 sec Reappearance: 1: 13: 17.8 +/- 0.2 sec (this time was difficult due to shakey video view) Star and Object Separated: Stopped Recording: 1: 15: 10.0 DURATION OF EVENT: 2.1 +/- 0.1 seconds Was your reaction time applied to the above timings? Yes, reductions done from video ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Drove to Ft. Davis, and then drove to site. Some difficulty was experienced in locating the star since sunset was less than 60 minutes prior to event. Following this occultation, stayed at site to observe 44 Nysa some 3.5 hours later, which was successful also. Video field of view was a little shakey due to the wind even though telescope was set up shielded by car. ________________________________________________________________ IOTA ASTEROIDAL OCCULTATION REPORT FORM Asteroid (or other object): 44 Nysa Star: TYC 654-00755 Date (U.T.):02 Jan 2003 Predicted Time (U.T.): 4:55:00 Observer Name: Richard Nugent 1-800-753-6977 E-mail Address: JackiesDad@weblore.com Fax: (713)524-1993 TELESCOPE: Aperture: 4" Focal length: 1000mm f/10 Type:Meade 2045D Eyepiece Power: n/a Observing site name: 5 miles west of Jai,NM on Hwy 128 Longitude: West 103deg 16min 46.4sec Latitude: 32deg 8min 14.2sec North. Determined by Garmin GPS model "Venture" unit. DATUM: WGS84 Height above sea level: 956 m How determined?: Garmin GPS model "etrex" NOTE: This GPS unit quoted accuracy to 5 meters. Sky Transparency (Circle one, or delete two): Very Good, Stars m = 6.5 visible. Star Image Stability ("seeing"; as above): good, images were steady Other Conditions: (Wind, Clouds, Lights, etc.): Temperature during occultation approx. 45 F. Some wind. Time Source: WWV 5,000 kHz Recording method: Image intensified video Supercircuits PC-164C and WWV direct feed simultaneously into camcorder. Was the Asteroid Visible in your Scope? It was faintly visible on video. EVENT TIMINGS: (All times in Universal Time) Universal Time Accuracy h m s Started Recording: 4: 51: 45 Star and Object Merged: Disappearance: 4: 54: 51.1 +/- 0.1 sec Reappearance: 4: 55: 06.9 +/- 0.1 sec Star and Object Separated: Stopped Recording: 4: 57: 10.0 DURATION OF EVENT: 15.8 +/- 0.1 seconds Was your reaction time applied to the above timings? Yes, reductions done from video ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 2nd occultation observed in same night. Wind died down considerably, making the small mag. drop of 0.9 easier to see. This success makes 2 in one night. ________________________________________________________________