The list shows occultations of possible double stars during June. Although the main emphasis remains on stars with separations < 2", now that the more detailed lunar limb profile from LOLA is available, some wider pairs are included. Doubles predicted to be occulted by the Moon during May 2018 and visible from parts of Australia or New Zealand are included. The listing is a very abbreviated version of predictions produced by Occult plus an indication of the region of visibility. Observers need to generate their own precise predictions using Occult.

The list below is generated by OCCULT for a 25cm telescope. Some of the events could be beyond the reach of smaller telescopes. Observations of all pairs in the list are highly desirable. Those showing an OCc number have been reported as non-instantaneous at a lunar occultation. Confirmation or otherwise of any double nature is wanted.

*** Kepler stars: the nights on which they are occulted are indicated. Individual Keplers are only shown if they are also a known or possible double. Light curve of occultations of all Kepler stars are desired.

Please send reports of all observations of these stars to Brian Loader at brian.loader@slingshot.co.nz, including any made in earlier months and not so far reported. And of course if you observe a stepped event for a star, which is not a known double, please report this. More details about reporting follow the predictions.

ARCHIVING OCCULTATION LIGHT CURVES

For ALL lunar occultations: single, double and Kepler K2 stars a csv file should be prepared for archiving. This can be done through the OBSERVATIONS EDITOR of OCCULT.

It will be necessary to generate a light curve using LIMOVIE and save or copy its csv file. You will also need to note the time, hh:mm:ss.sss of one frame and the corresponding frame number.

Then in the Observations Editor select the entry for the star and use the menu bar option to create a Light Curve Report. Follow the instructions on the new screen which appears. There is a help file. It is suggested that light curve reports be emailed in batches rather than singly. They are sent directly to Dave Herald from the program.

********************************************************************************
 d P    Star  Mag    %         Double details        WDS or   Area of
Jun      No    v    ill      magnitudes sepn    PA°  OCC #    Visibility
 1 r  187349* 6.8   93- : **  8.3  8.3  0.05" 350.0  OCc1554  ,ChI
 1 r  187358* 7.5   93- : **  8.4  8.4  0.05" 350.0  OCc1555  ,AkWChI
 1 r  187395  8.9   92- : **  9.7  9.7  0.07" 140.0, OCc1017  ,AkWChI
 1 R   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWI
 2 r  188563  8.3   86- : AB  8.61 9.52 0.82" 245.8  BU  146° BTS,AkWCh
 2 R    2908# 6.9   85- : **  7.5  7.7  0.06" 143.0  OCc1588  ,WChI
 3 R  163811  7.3   78- : **  7.4  9.0  0.50" 117.0  OCc 603  RBTSCM,AkWChI
 4 r  164545  8.6   69- : AB  8.7 11.7  1.5"  107.2  HL    5  RB
 5 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
 5 r  165061  9.0   59- : **  9.8  9.8  0.10" 214.0  OCc 748  RBTSCM,WChI
   *** 165061 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 206100889}
 5 r  165098# 8.4   59- : AB  8.98 9.37 0.31" 115.9  RST4105  CM
   *** 165098 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 206108325}
 6 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
 6 r X184816 10.0   51- : AB 10.0 10.1  3.6"  111.0  STF2981  ,Ak 
   *** X184816 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 246025901}
 7 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    BTSCM,AkWChI
 7 R  128557  8.1   39- : AB  8.2 12.2  1.8"   55.5  RST4738  R
 8 R      95  7.0   30- : Aab 7.8  7.8  0.10" 350.0  OCc  61  TSCM,AkWChI
 8 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBT,AkWChI
10 R     368  6.2   12- : AB  6.23 9.85 1.49" 143.4  BU  518  ,AkWChI
         368:  B star is X 62362
   X 62362 is double: BA 9.9 6.2 1.5" 323.4, dT = +1.2sec
10 r X  3419 10.9   12- : AB  9.7 10.1  4.2"  315.9  HJ  652  R
      X  3419: B star is X  3418
12 r     658  4.3    2- : AB 4.26  7.85 1.83" 340.0  KUI  17  ,W

15 d   78919  8.3    3+ : **  9.2  9.2  0.05"  17.7  OCc 852  ,Ak
16 d   79871* 9.0    8+ : **  9.6  9.6  0.10" 318.0  OCc 805  ,AkWCh
16 d   79912*?8.6    9+ : **  9.3  9.3  0.10" 301.0  OCc 804  ,AkW
16 d   79925* 8.6    9+ : **  9.4  9.4  0.10" 135.0  OCc 784  ,ChI
17 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
17 D    1362  7.2   17+ : **  7.5  9.0  0.01" 341.0  OCc 238  RBTS,AkW
   ***   1362 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 211810753}
19 D   99421  8.1   37+ : **  9.1  9.1  0.20"  90.0  OCc  34  RBTSCM,AkWChI
20 D    1725# 7.6   48+ : AB  7.4  7.6  0.10" 109.3  CHR 220  BTSCM,AkWChI
20 d  119146  8.4   49+ : **  9.4  9.4  0.10" 131.0  OCc 665  RBTSCM,AkWChI
20 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    R
21 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkWCh
21 d    1856  6.8   61+ : AB  7.33 7.61 1.07" 100.9  STT 256° RB
         1856:  B star is X125132
22 D    1965  6.5   71+ : **  7.3  7.3  0.05" 350.0  OCc1453  R
   ***   1965 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 212801410}
22 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RTSCM,AkWChI
23 D  139898  7.6   78+ : AB  7.5  7.5  6.0"  175.1  STF1833  ,WChI
23     139898: B star is  2059
23 d X 38046 10.0   79+ : AB 10.5 11.5  0.8"  194.7  RST3880  RB
24 d X 39132! 9.5   86+ : **  9.6 11.8  0.07"  93.0  OCc1843  ,AkWChI
24 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTS
25 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
26 D    2448*  6.3   97+ : **  7.2  7.2  0.10" 270.0  OCc  40  RB
26 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    SCM,AkWChI
27 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    TSCM

28 r  187349* 6.8  100- : **  8.3  8.3  0.05" 350.0  OCc1554  ,AkWChI
28 r  187233  7.5  100- : **  9.1  9.1  0.05" 350.0  OCc1550  TSCM,WCh
28 r  187358* 7.5  100- : **  8.4  8.4  0.05" 350.0  OCc1555  ,WChI
29 r  188563  8.3   98- : AB  8.61 9.52 0.82" 245.9  BU  146° CM
30 r X174015  9.1   95- : AB  9.1  9.4  2.3"  117.1  B   479  ,WChI
      X174015:  B star is X 48198
30 r X174460  9.2   95- : AB  9.5 10.3  0.54" 112.5  HU  586  RBTSCM,AkWChI
      X174460:  B star is 163578    

======================================================================

Visibility codes:
Australia: R Rockhampton, B Brisbane, T Tamworth, S Sydney, C Canberra, M Melbourne  

NZ (following a ,) Ak Auckland, W Wellington, Ch Christchurch, I Invercargill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stars with previous occultation observations: 

#: Observations indicating double - these need further checking
*: Observations not showing double - need confirmation
!: Recent video discoveries - confirmation needed.
?: Uncertain double observation, confirmation or otherwise needed

A WDS number followed by a ° sign indicates the double has a known orbit.

==================================================================

Reporting Your Observations

The most convenient way of reporting is to use Dave Herald's OCCULT which has a Double Star report option in the Observations editor. Before using it, generate a light curve with Limovie and copy to the clip board. Your graph will be attached to the email which you can then send to brian.loader@slingshot.co.nz.

Otherwise in reporting please include your name and positional data as for other occultations reports, also your telescope type and method of observing and timekeeping.

For each event give the star name and the times of each step of the event with the corresponding accuracy. The limb PA, Rv and Cct of the event would also be useful.

In addition to measures of the PA and separation of binary stars, there is also a need for an estimate of the magnitude difference. An estimate of this can be made from the step sizes shown by Limovie data. So if possible a determination should be made of the size of each step together with an estimate of accuracy.

Please also report cases where a double event is predicted but none detected. These are especially likely with stars shown with an OCc designation

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