The list shows occultations of possible double stars during December. 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 December 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.

********************************************************************************
Dec      No    v    ill      magnitudes sepn    PA°  OCC #    Visibility
 3 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTS,Ak

12 d  164246  9.1   22+ : AB  9.3 11.8  0.55" 327.2  RST3279  RT,AkWCh
13 D  164808  7.7   30+ : AB  7.7 11.0  0.20"  28.1  TOK 215  ,Ak
13 D    3237* 4.3   31+ : **  5.2  5.2  0.05" 350.0  OCc1616  RBTSCM,AkWChI
13 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWCh
14 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSC,AkWChI
14 d  165337  9.6   39+ : **  9.9  9.9  0.10"  92.0  OCc1630  RBTSC,AkWChI
   *** 165337 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 206157908}
14 d  165355  9.2   40+ : **  9.7  9.7  0.10"  99.0  OCc1631  RBTSCM,I
15 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkW
15 r  146801  7.9   49+ : AB  8.60 8.77 0.50" 134.0  BU  721  R
                        :AB,C 7.9 11.4  21.5" 300.9  BU  721  R
   *** 146801 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 246101155}
17 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
17 d  109703  9.2   68+ : AB  9.4 11.9   4.28" 38.5  A  2311  B,AkWCh
   *** 109703 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 220296220}
18 D     298* 7.1   78+ : **  8.0  8.0  0.10"  90.0  OCc1172  TSCM,AkWChI
18 D     303  6.4   79+ : **  7.2  7.4  0.40" 115.0  OCc1174) RBTSCM
20 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    R,AkWChI
20 D     581  6.8   94+ : AB  6.9 11.1  3.6"  237.3  HEI  31  RBTSCM
21 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
21 d   94106  8.9   98+ : AB  8.9  9.3 33"    112.0  AG  311  RBTSCM
       94106:  B star is 94107
                        : AC  8.9 11.7 54"    173.1  CTT   8  RBTSCM
   *** 94106 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247153504}
   *** 94107 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247153152}

23 R    1059  6.9   99- : **  7.7  7.7  0.10" 230.0  OCc 820  RBTSCM,AkWChI
24 r   79953  7.8   95- : AB  7.8 11.2  2.38" 241.7  HO  351  R
25 r   98314  8.9   89- : **  9.7  9.7  0.25"  98.0  OCc1077  RBTSC,AkWChI
   ***   98314 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 211929765}
25 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,ChI
27 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkW
27 R    1598  6.5   70- : **  7.2  7.2  0.10"  90.0  OCc  85  ,WChI
   ***   1598 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 248842300}
27 r   99453  9.1   69- : AB  9.3  9.5  7.7"  286.9  STF1511  TSCM
       99453:  B star is X 34342
27 r   99463 10.0   68- : AB 10.2 10.6  1.9"  137.9  J    81  R
28 r  119148  9.6   58- : AB 10.3 10.4  0.49"  97.9  HDS1687  RBTSCM
28 r X 17955  9.7   57- : AB 10.4 10.5  0.50" 269.0  TDS8186  R
29 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkWChI
29 r  119614  8.1   47- : AC  8.1 10.6  8.5"   53.0  ENG  50  RBTSCM,AkWChI
30 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkW
30 r    1964 10.0   35- : AB  7.2 10.1 27.7"  336.0  STF1775  RBTSCM
         1964:  B star is X 36752.
   *** X 36752 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 212838666}
30 r X 36803 10.5   35- : AB  7.3       7.6"   20.0  LAF  50  R
   *** X 36803 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 212828608}

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

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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