Occultation of iota Cancri by (411) Xanthe April 18 UT by Roger Venable - New 2007 April 18, 22h UT

From: IOTAoccultations@yahoogroups.com on behalf of
  Roger Venable [rjvmd@hughes.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 6:28 AM
To: IOTAoccultations@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [IOTAoccultations] Some observations of the iota 
Cnc/411 Xanthe occultation - path probably shifted a little north 

Well, I saw it blink out, observing with binoculars from 
approximately 55 km north, but. . . . 

A very frustrating night for me. First, en route to the event I got 
a speeding ticket despite carefully obeying speed limits. I suppose 
everyone knows of some ways by which that commonly happens, and I 
needn't elaborate. 

Second, a major snafu happened in the excitement and the rush of 
setting up my second station, which was visual (binoculars) with WWV 
and a small tape recorder. It was here, about 55 km north of 
predicted center, that I saw the event. I estimate that it lasted 
two to three seconds. However, I neglected to turn on the tape 
recorder! I suppose that my short chord fits well with Richard's 
observation at minus 20 km, for an asteroidal diameter of some 80 
km, but unfortunately I have no data except my location. 

Third, at my unattended station at 65 km north, I got a wonderful 
video of Chi Cancri rather than Iota Cancri. This comes from (1) 
setting up in twilight when most of the naked-eye stars I use to 
assist me in star-hopping were not visible, and (2) being in a rush 
to get to a second station, and (3) supposing that I would find Iota 
with such ease that no star charts would be needed. Star charts 
would have been a help, I think. Anyway, I can assure you all, 
judging from my data at this station, that 411 Xanthe did NOT occult 
Chi Cancri at 8:56 P.M. EST last night! 

-- Roger Venable