Predictions, Maps, & Plans for the Grazing Occultation of SAO 78233 on May 1, 2006 EDT
Clear for this evening's good grazing occultation
The latest Astro Meteo (Clear Sky Clock) forecast is very good for this evening's good grazing occultation (7.5-mag. close double star, Moon a fairly thin crescent only 20% sunlit, high altitude above the horizon) in s.e. Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, so I am planning an expedition to try to observe it; see the grazing occultation section below for general information about it. I plan to observe it near exit 10 of I-295 in s.w. New Jersey, 10 miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Let me know if you can either join my expedition, or can observe elsewhere in the path, so that we might coordinate coverage of this interesting and potentially good event. I would meet anyone else who might be interested in joing this effort at 7:45 pm at the intersection of Heron Dr. and Harrisonville Rd. about a mile southwest of I-295 exit 10, but if possible, please call my cell phone, 301-526-5590, shortly before you arrive in the area. Maps showing this area, the graze path, and the meeting place are below. They also will show the area where the path crosses US1 in Chadds Ford, Penn., in case anyone wants to try to observe the graze there. The graze observing period will be from 8:35 to 8:41 pm EDT near I-295, and a minute earlier at US1. The path also crosses the n.e. corner of Delaware n.e. of Wilmington. Below are links to maps of the path, first in .jpg files, then in a Power Point file that has some labels for the detailed map of NJ and that may be easier to display and print with your computer. On the maps, the 0.6-mile-wide graze zone is between the two pencil- drawn (gray) lines. s.w. NJ map shows meeting place, 900 kilobytes. s.e. PA & n. DE map, 400 kilobytes. = above showing more to s., 800 kilobytes. Power Point file with 1st 2 maps above, 4.9 megabytes. The Power Point file (and only it) includes detailed Google Earth aerial photography views of the New Jersey graze zone with the meeting place indicated in the lower left corner (and also of the area where the path crosses US 1 in Penn. at Chadds Ford). In N.J., the observing sites will be along Heron Dr. extending from Harrisonville Rd. for half a mile to the n.e., to about halfway to Center Square Rd. (which is at exit 10 from I-295). If for any reason the Heron Dr. sites don't work (but I think they will; there are just some fields and commercial buildings with few trees along that road), I would use instead sites along Beckett Rd. on the other (s.e.) side of I-295. I used the Grazereg predictions for this event. The limit predictions, including the list of stations with their distances to the path, are here and the ACLPPP profile for the graze is here (both are plain text files). _______ General information about just the graze from the expeditions item Grazing Occultations DATE Day EDT Star Mag % alt CA Location May 1 Mon 20:37 SAO 78233 7.5 20+ 42 14N Narvon&ChaddsFord,PA;Sun -7d Notes: May 1: The star may be a close triple, with equal components separated by 0.25" in PA 159 deg., and a 9.2-mag. 3rd star 3.1" away in PA 262. See the top of this message for more about it; the Sun's altitude will be -7.6 deg. near I-295 in NJ and experience with past grazes shows that the sky will be dark enough with telescopic views to see the 7.5-mag. star well then (and o.k. also in s.e. Penn.). It's a total occultation in the Washington, DC area, but will be difficult there at -5 deg. altitude. See above for my expedition plans and maps. _____________________________________ David Dunham, 2006 May 1, 3:30 pm Phones home 301-474-4722; office 240-228-5609; car 301-526-5590 emails dunham@starpower.net or office david.dunham@jhuapl.edu