Good grazing "eclipse" of ZC 2702 Wed. evening, Oct. 17 - Updated 2007 Nov. 5, 5 pm EST

Conditions were good and the graze was observed from eight locations in and near Columbia, MD

Observations were also obtained at observatories in northern New Jersey and southern New York.

     The IR weather satellite observations, which you can see for 
the New England area and the Mid-Atlantic region, showed that it was 
mostly clear along the path from southern Virginia to New Hampshire, 
except for a sizeable patch of clouds over northeastern Maryland and 
s.e. Pennsylvania up to about Perkasie.  So the actual situation was 
much better than the last Astro Meteo forecast.  It was dry in the 
Mid-Atlantic region, with no dewing problems, but in Massachusetts 
it was quite humid, and with falling temperatures, an expedition 
from the Clay Center in western Mass. failed due to fog that formed 
shortly before the graze. 

     Conditions were quite good for our expedition in southern 
Columbia, MD, where we observed the graze from five stations, four 
video and one visual, I think all with 2 or more occultations of the 
star, and I think 5 at my station about 400 m north of the limit 
line.  Farther northeast in Columbia, in a separate effort, Dale 
Lehman had only one occultation of the star lasting about 2 minutes, 
higher up (that is, farther south) on the same mountain that 
occulted the star for our stations the longest.  Also, Andrew Scheck 
observed two short occultations by high mountains from his home in 
Scaggsville while Kevin Hartnett recorded long and short 
occultations from his home in Fulton.

     Further accounts and reports of the graze in central Maryland 
are listed below. 

Bart Huxtable in the north parking lot at Atholton High School.
Andrew Scheck in Scaggsville (also included there is an account of
   the 3 stations that I set up in southern Columbia).
Kevin Hartnett in Fulton.

     So far, I've heard from two others, David Nelson in High 
Bridge, NJ who observed the graze from the NJAA Observatory, and 
Frank Suits in s.e. New York.  Frank had two occultations of the 
star and has already analyzed his 4 video-recorded events with 
Limovie, which you can see in his account here.

      With dozens of observers actually living within the path 
across northern Virginia and the northern Washington, DC suburbs, 
I'm disappointed that so far there are no reports from those areas.  
Maybe some reports will be sent later; it would be a shame if so 
many missed this convenient opportunity to observe a favorable 
graze.

      Much pre-event prediction information, maps, and plans is 
here.

David Dunham, 2007 November 5, 5 pm EDT
Phones home 301-474-4722; office 240-228-5609; cell 301-526-5590 
e-mail david.dunham@jhuapl.edu
home e-mail:  dunham@starpower.net .