ASTROMETRIC UPDATE:
OCCULTATION BY (569) MISA - 2002 MAR 22
[Edwin Goffin's Prediction + Finder Charts]
UPDATE: 2002 MAR 14, 00:05 UT
THE UPDATED PATH
On the evening of 2002 Mar 22, the 73 km diameter asteroid (569) Misa will occult an 11.7 magnitude star in the constellation Taurus for observers along a path crossing Australia from west to east. The updated prediction suggests that the path will pass close to EXMOUTH in Western Australia, and across BUNDABERG on the east coast.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 3.0 mag to 14.6 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 3.2 seconds. As the star is faint and the 53% sunlit moon will be only 10 degrees away, larger telescopes will be required.
This update is based on historical astrometry from AstDys, and the UCAC and Tycho-2 catalogs for the star position.
Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.oz.net/~stevepr/Asteroids/asteroid.htm
EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY :
- Date and approx. UT time of event : 2002 Mar 22, 09:24 (WA) - 09:26 (QLD) UT
(Refer to map for your own location)
- Magnitude of target star : 11.7
- Magnitude drop [mag] : 3.0
- Estimated maximum duration [s] : 3.2
- Phase of moon, angular distance : 53 % sunlit, 10° distance
- Sun : 84° distance
- Rough path description : Eastern Australia
The Occultation Path :
- Approximate projected width [km] : 101
- Uncertainty interval [path widths] : +/- 0.71 (1 sigma)
- Uncertainty interval approx RA,DE ["] : (+/- .035 +/- .034) (1 sigma)
- Uncertainty ellipse (major, minor, PA) : ( .035", .034", 91° ) (1 sigma)
- Remarks :
Data for the target star :
- Name : TYC 1861-00533
- Constellation : Taurus
- J2000 position [h,m,s ; °,',"]: RA: 05 40 24.1119 DE: +23 35 56.902
- Position source : Pos: UCAC, pm: Tycho-2, pi:
- Standard error : RA,DE ["]: ( .030, .030 )
- V mag [mag] : 11.7
- Remarks : (none)
Data for the minor planet :
- Number, name : (569) Misa
- Approx. diameter [km] : 73
- Approx. diameter [arcsec] : .048
- Source of used astrometry : Astdys
- Number of used observations : 429
- Number of rejected observations : 39
- Time covered by the observations : 1910 Dec 19 - 2002 Feb 27
- 1 sigma uncertainty ellipse (major, minor, PA) : 0.018, 0.016, 92°
- Remarks :
- Update computed by : Steve Preston, Medina, Washington, USA. (OrbFit).
IMPORTANT NOTE!
Astrometric updates such as these should not be taken as definitive, but rather only as an indication of where the true track may lie relative to the original predicted track. Observers must bear in mind that later astrometry, in which the target star is measured in the same field as the asteroid, may still reveal substantial changes to the predicted track and time of the event. For this reason it is most important that observers far from the predicted track still monitor the event.
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