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PLANETARY OCCULTATIONS:
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND - 1998

During 1998 there are well over 100 minor planet occultation tracks which could pass over parts of Australia or New Zealand. The predicted tracks of a small number of these are particularly favourably placed for observation from well populated parts of the region (e.g. southeastern Australia). It is these events which have been targetted for "last-minute astrometry", in which an attempt is made to accurately update the original prediction only a few nights before the event.

The following table lists these specially targetted events, and current predictions are available for download. Predictions for all the events potentially visible from Australasia are available through the RASNZ Occultation Section's CA series of Circulars.


EXPLANATION OF THE TABLE
Update :
Click here for a recent update to the prediction.
Date and hour:
Universal Time (UT). UT is effectively equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time. In New Zealand, add 12 hours to UT to get NZ Standard Time, or add 13 hours to get NZ Daylight Time.
Minor Planet :
The number and name of the minor planet involved. Click for a prediction for the event.

Predictions typically take the form of an approximately 18k GIF file which contains tabular information about the minor planet and star, a world map showing the predicted track, and two star charts showing the star involved and the path of the minor planet several days prior to the event. For further information about interpreting the predictions click here.

Diam (km) :
The planet's expected diameter in kilometres.
Star Name :
Catalogue name and number of the star being occulted.
Star Mag :
Brightness of the star being occulted.
R.A./Dec :
Right Ascension and Declination of the star being occulted for Epoch J2000.
Del m :
The expected drop in magnitude (brightness) if the star is occulted. A drop in magnitude of about 0.6 is generally accepted as being at about the limit of human perception.
Max Durn :
Maximum expected duration (in seconds) of the occultation for a planet of the quoted diameter.
Pr :
The relative importance (Priority) of the event, and the likelihood "last-minute astrometry" will be obtained. Priorities have been assigned taking into account the size of the minor planet, star magnitude, Delta M, predicted region of visibility and population density therein, potential path error, and other factors. Priority 1 events have the greatest chance of being updated.
Region :
The expected region in which the occultation will be observed.
"A" = Australia; "NZ" = New Zealand; "PNG" = Papua New Guinea;
"s" = south; "n" = north; "e" = east; etc.

NOTE:
Before downloading any predictions you are strongly urged to check out
[Using Planetary Occultation Predictions] [Observing Preparations and Techniques]


               UT                  Diam Star         Star  R.A./Dec Del Max
Update Date    h    Minor Planet   (km) Name          Mag  (2000.0)  m  Durn Pr  Region
------ ----   ----  -------------- ---- ----------   ----  -------- --- ---- --  ------
       Jul  5 16.0  804 Hispania    161 PPM 207919    8.6  23 44 42 3.7 19.2  1  NZ
                                                          -08 27 46 
       Jul 10 09.7  451 Patientia   230 GSC030300484 11.6  13 29 59 2.0 13.7  2  PNG,nNZ
                                                          +04 20 40
       Jul 12 07.5  696 Leonora	     79 PPM 747734   10.2  16 25 23 4.7  7.3  2  NZ
                                                          -32 36 51
       Jul 17 16.6  165 Loreley	    160 TAC-02°14800 11.1  22 35 37 1.6 15.7  2  nNZ,nA
                                                          -02 25 37
       Aug 13 13.9  358 Apollonia    92 PPM 181701   10.2  23 50 04 3.2 17.0  3  seA
                                                          -00 18 11
       Aug 25 12.8   24 Themis	    127 PPM 230111    8.6  15 21 01 4.4  5.9  2  sA
                                                          -18 53 09
[YES]  Sep 29 11.4   47 Aglaja      137 PPM 733363    9.7  17 36 47 3.3  5.7  1  seA
                                                          -28 10 51
[YES]  Oct  7 16.1  410 Chloris	    128 TAC+16°01099 11.2  05 29 28 2.8 71.0  1  nNZ,seA
                                                          +16 30 38
[YES]  Oct 20 15.7   62 Erato  	     99 TAC+02°00345 11.2  00 59 28 1.4 10.8  3  A
                                                          +02 36 52
       Oct 30 09.1  259 Aletheia    185 PPM 273216    9.9  21 59 35 3.4 19.5  2  eA
                                                          -25 05 01
[YES]  Nov 20 09.9   46 Hestia	    131 PPM 118648    8.8  02 54 15 2.4 16.0  2  seA
                                                          +13 19 52
[YES]  Nov 25 13.0  358 Apollonia    92 PPM 207330    7.7  23 15 12 6.2  9.2  1  Tasman
                                                          -06 07 19
[YES]  Nov 26 15.6  269 Justitia     55 TAC+15°01076  9.3  05 51 49 5.0  4.2  1  sA, nNZ
                                                          +15 52 55
[YES]  Nov 27 16.5 1036 Ganymed      41 PPM 185891    9.6  03 32 12 1.3  6.0  3  eA
                                                          -08 07 47
[YES]  Dec  4 09.9   51 Nemausa	    152 PPM 145718   10.1  02 34 41 2.2 22.0  1  seA
                                                          +01 57 28
[YES]  Dec  9 11.4  147 Protogeneia 137 PPM 143088    7.7  00 02 47 6.9 14.6  1  seA
                                                          +02 07 48

Visit our Results Page for some of the above events.


This page may have been updated since 11 March 1999.
Hit your browser's RELOAD button to get the latest version.

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