RASNZ Occultation Section - Elektra Occultation Update

ASTROMETRIC UPDATE:
OCCULTATION BY (130) ELEKTRA - 2003 NOV 03

THE UPDATED PATH

(Note: The duration given in the line below is the interval during which the occultation shadow sweeps across the Earth - please see the minute markers on the map to determine the approximate the time for your location)

On 2003 Nov 03 UT, the 182 km diameter asteroid (130) Elektra will occult a 11.1 mag star in the constellation Eridanus for observers along a path across Ninety Mile Beach New Zealand then very low altitude over Sydney, Australia.

In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 0.7 mag to 10.9 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 19.1 seconds.

This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Ron Stone, TMO astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Bill Owen, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: UCAC.

Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/

EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY :

Event Rank : 99
(The event Rank is a measure of the likelihood of observing an event, and is equal to
the probability of at least one successful observation by a team of two observers spaced 1/8 path
width just inside opposite sides of the predicted path).
Date and approx. UT time of event : 2003 Nov 03, 09:21 - 2003 Nov 03, 09:43 UT
(Refer to map(s) for your own location)
Magnitude of target star : 11.1
Magnitude drop [mag] : 0.7
Estimated maximum duration [s] : 19.1
Phase of moon, angular distance : 73 % sunlit, 78° distance
Sun : 141° distance
Rough path description : Bahamas, Cuba, Honduras,New Zealand, SE Australia

Data for the target star :

Name : TYC 5883-00961-1
Constellation : Eridanus
J2000 position [h,m,s ; °,',"]: RA: 04 11 04.4481 DE: -15 24 26.554
Position source : Pos: UCAC2, pm: UCAC2, pi:
Standard error : RA,DE ["]: ( .017, .016 )
V mag [mag] : 11.1
Remarks : (none)

Data for the minor planet :

Number, name : (130) Elektra
Approx. diameter [km] : 182
Approx. diameter [arcsec] : .151
Source of used astrometry : FASTT TMO MPC (via Astdys)
Number of used observations : 483
Number of rejected observations : 46
Time covered by the observations : 1901 Apr 09 - 2003 Oct 28
1 sigma uncertainty ellipse (major, minor, PA) : 0.026, 0.017, 75°
Remarks : (none)
Update computed by : Steve Preston, Medina, Washington, USA. (OrbFit).

The Occultation Path :

Approximate projected width [km] : 182
Uncertainty interval [path widths] : +/- 0.16 (1 sigma)
Uncertainty interval [seconds] : +/- 3.7 (1 sigma)
Uncertainty interval approx RA,DE ["] : (+/- .031 +/- .023) (1 sigma)
Uncertainty ellipse (major, minor, PA) : ( .031", .023", 79° ) (1 sigma)
Important Note regarding Accuracy:
The uncertainty interval in path widths given above (and shown as a 1-sigma uncertainty ellipse on the plot) refers to RMS deviation and is applied as a +/- range. In other words, a path uncertainty of 1.0 path widths means that the actual center of the asteroid's shadow path should fall within plus or minus 1 path width of the plotted path center. However path errors larger than 1 sigma have been observed so observers should be alert for primary occultations within plus or minus 3 sigma of the updated path.
Further, almost all asteroidal satellites discovered so far have been found within 10 diameters of the asteroid (since this distance is deep enough within the gravitational well to be stable over long timescales). Therefore, if monitoring for secondary events, observing out to about 10 path-widths either side of the predicted track remains worthwhile.
We therefore recommend that you monitor for events if your observing location is up to +/- 10 path-widths from the predicted track. If not monitoring for occultations by secondary bodies you should observe from locations within 3 sigma of the nominal path.
In terms of time, the predictions are now usually accurate to about +/- 0.3 minute so you should be most attentive during the predicted minute of the event. However if intending to catch a potential satellite occultation you should start observing at least 10 times the predicted central duration before the predicted closest approach time for your location, and continue for a similar period afterwards.
Path Co-ordinates :

                  Centre              Star  Star   Sun      Path Limits           Error Limits
  E. Longitude   Latitude      U.T.    Alt    Az   Alt    Limit 1    Limit 2    Limit 3    Limit 4
      o  '  "     o  '  "    h  m  s     o     o     o    o  '  "    o  '  "    o  '  "    o  '  "
                                                        Longitude  Longitude  Longitude  Longitude
 
    179  0  0   -33 38 50    9 41 43    36    85   -33  -32 49  0  -34 28 38  -32 33  2  -34 44 34

    178  0  0   -33 45 43    9 41 48    36    85   -32  -32 55 57  -34 35 27  -32 40  0  -34 51 21
    177  0  0   -33 52  5    9 41 54    35    86   -32  -33  2 22  -34 41 45  -32 46 27  -34 57 38
    176  0  0   -33 57 55    9 41 59    34    86   -31  -33  8 16  -34 47 31  -32 52 21  -35  3 23
    175  0  0   -34  3 14    9 42  5    33    87   -31  -33 13 38  -34 52 47  -32 57 44  -35  8 38
    174  0  0   -34  8  1    9 42 10    32    87   -30  -33 18 28  -34 57 31  -33  2 36  -35 13 21

    173  0  0   -34 12 17    9 42 15    32    88   -29  -33 22 47  -35  1 45  -33  6 55  -35 17 34
    172  0  0   -34 16  2    9 42 20    31    88   -29  -33 26 34  -35  5 28  -33 10 43  -35 21 16
    171  0  0   -34 19 16    9 42 24    30    89   -28  -33 29 50  -35  8 40  -33 14  0  -35 24 27
    170  0  0   -34 21 59    9 42 29    29    89   -28  -33 32 34  -35 11 21  -33 16 45  -35 27  8
    169  0  0   -34 24 11    9 42 34    28    90   -27  -33 34 47  -35 13 31  -33 18 58  -35 29 18

    168  0  0   -34 25 51    9 42 38    27    90   -26  -33 36 29  -35 15 10  -33 20 40  -35 30 57
    167  0  0   -34 27  0    9 42 42    27    91   -26  -33 37 38  -35 16 19  -33 21 50  -35 32  5
    166  0  0   -34 27 38    9 42 47    26    92   -25  -33 38 17  -35 16 57  -33 22 28  -35 32 43
    165  0  0   -34 27 45    9 42 51    25    92   -25  -33 38 24  -35 17  4  -33 22 35  -35 32 50
    164  0  0   -34 27 21    9 42 55    24    93   -24  -33 37 59  -35 16 40  -33 22 11  -35 32 26

    163  0  0   -34 26 25    9 42 59    23    93   -23  -33 37  3  -35 15 45  -33 21 14  -35 31 31
    162  0  0   -34 24 58    9 43  2    23    94   -23  -33 35 35  -35 14 19  -33 19 46  -35 30  6
    161  0  0   -34 23  0    9 43  6    22    94   -22  -33 33 35  -35 12 22  -33 17 45  -35 28  9
    160  0  0   -34 20 30    9 43  9    21    95   -22  -33 31  3  -35  9 53  -33 15 13  -35 25 41
    159  0  0   -34 17 28    9 43 13    20    95   -21  -33 28  0  -35  6 54  -33 12  9  -35 22 42

    158  0  0   -34 13 55    9 43 16    19    96   -20  -33 24 24  -35  3 23  -33  8 32  -35 19 12
    157  0  0   -34  9 50    9 43 19    19    96   -20  -33 20 16  -34 59 20  -33  4 24  -35 15 10
    156  0  0   -34  5 12    9 43 22    18    97   -19  -33 15 36  -34 54 46  -32 59 42  -35 10 37
    155  0  0   -34  0  3    9 43 25    17    97   -18  -33 10 23  -34 49 40  -32 54 28  -35  5 32
    154  0  0   -33 54 21    9 43 28    16    98   -18  -33  4 37  -34 44  2  -32 48 42  -34 59 55

    153  0  0   -33 48  7    9 43 30    15    99   -17  -32 58 19  -34 37 51  -32 42 22  -34 53 46
    152  0  0   -33 41 20    9 43 33    14    99   -16  -32 51 27  -34 31  9  -32 35 29  -34 47  4
    151  0  0   -33 34  0    9 43 35    14   100   -16  -32 44  3  -34 23 53  -32 28  3  -34 39 51
    150  0  0   -33 26  7    9 43 37    13   100   -15  -32 36  5  -34 16  6  -32 20  3  -34 32  4
    149  0  0   -33 17 41    9 43 40    12   101   -15  -32 27 33  -34  7 45  -32 11 29  -34 23 45

    148  0  0   -33  8 41    9 43 41    11   101   -14  -32 18 27  -33 58 51  -32  2 22  -34 14 53
    147  0  0   -32 59  7    9 43 43    10   102   -13  -32  8 47  -33 49 23  -31 52 40  -34  5 27
    146  0  0   -32 48 59    9 43 45     9   102   -13  -31 58 33  -33 39 22  -31 42 24  -33 55 28
    145  0  0   -32 38 17    9 43 47     8   103   -12  -31 47 44  -33 28 47  -31 31 32  -33 44 55
    144  0  0   -32 27  1    9 43 48     8   103   -11  -31 36 20  -33 17 37  -31 20  6  -33 33 48

    143  0  0   -32 15  9    9 43 49     7   104   -11  -31 24 21  -33  5 53  -31  8  5  -33 22  7
    142  0  0   -32  2 42    9 43 50     6   104   -10  -31 11 46  -32 53 34  -30 55 28  -33  9 50
    141  0  0   -31 49 40    9 43 51     5   105    -9  -30 58 36  -32 40 40  -30 42 14  -32 56 59
    140  0  0   -31 36  2    9 43 52     4   106    -9  -30 44 49  -32 27 11  -30 28 25  -32 43 32
    139  0  0   -31 21 48    9 43 53     3   106    -8  -30 30 26  -32 13  6  -30 13 59  -32 29 30

    138  0  0   -31  6 58    9 43 53     2   107    -7  -30 15 27  -31 58 25  -29 58 56  -32 14 52
    137  0  0   -30 51 30    9 43 54     1   107    -6  -29 59 50  -31 43  7  -29 43 16  -31 59 37
    136  0  0   -30 35 26    9 43 54     1   108    -6  -29 43 35  -31 27 13  -29 26 58  -31 43 46
    135  0  0    .. .. ..   .. .. ..    ..    ..    ..   .. .. ..   .. .. ..   .. .. ..  -31 27 18

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