Updated: 2005 FEB 26, 01:09 UT
Event Rank : 8
(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. An event rank of 100 indicates that the prediction is expected to be very accurate).
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 time for your location.
On 2005 Mar 13 UT, the 10 km diameter asteroid 2005 AB will occult a 11.3 mag star in the constellation Ursa Major for observers along a path across Australia, USA. As announced in IAUC 8483, this newly discovered asteroid has been found to be a binary object. As such there will be two occultation paths.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 4.4 mag to 15.7 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 1.5 seconds.
This update is based on Ondrejov astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Jan Manek, 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 :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.
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 ... .. .. -29 0 0 .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. 122 53 10 ... .. .. 122 35 14 -28 0 0 11 42 13 1 34 -21 122 38 57 122 31 31 123 38 14 121 32 2 123 20 18 -27 0 0 11 42 13 2 33 -22 123 23 58 123 16 37 124 22 36 122 17 49 124 4 40 -26 0 0 11 42 14 3 33 -23 124 8 18 124 1 2 125 6 19 123 2 51 124 48 23 -25 0 0 11 42 15 5 33 -24 124 51 59 124 44 48 125 49 26 123 47 12 125 31 31 -24 0 0 11 42 17 6 32 -25 125 35 5 125 27 58 126 32 0 124 30 56 126 14 7 -23 0 0 11 42 19 7 32 -26 126 17 38 126 10 35 127 14 3 125 14 4 126 56 12 -22 0 0 11 42 22 8 32 -27 126 59 42 126 52 42 127 55 38 125 56 40 127 37 49 -21 0 0 11 42 25 9 32 -27 127 41 17 127 34 21 128 36 47 126 38 46 128 19 1 -20 0 0 11 42 28 11 31 -28 128 22 28 128 15 34 129 17 33 127 20 24 128 59 50 -19 0 0 11 42 32 12 31 -29 129 3 15 128 56 24 129 57 58 128 1 38 129 40 17 -18 0 0 11 42 36 13 31 -30 129 43 41 129 36 53 130 38 4 128 42 29 130 20 26 -17 0 0 11 42 41 14 31 -31 130 23 49 130 17 4 131 17 52 129 22 59 131 0 19 -16 0 0 11 42 46 15 31 -32 131 3 40 130 56 57 131 57 26 130 3 11 131 39 57 -15 0 0 11 42 51 17 30 -33 131 43 17 131 36 36 132 36 47 130 43 6 132 19 22 -14 0 0 11 42 57 18 30 -34 132 22 41 132 16 2 133 15 57 131 22 47 132 58 36 -13 0 0 11 43 3 19 30 -34 133 1 55 132 55 17 133 54 57 132 2 16 133 37 41 -12 0 0 11 43 10 20 30 -35 133 41 0 133 34 23 134 33 51 132 41 34 134 16 40 -11 0 0 11 43 17 21 30 -36 134 19 58 134 13 22 135 12 39 133 20 43 134 55 34 -10 0 0 11 43 24 22 29 -37 134 58 51 134 52 17 135 51 24 133 59 46 135 34 24 - 9 0 0 11 43 32 24 29 -38 135 37 40 135 31 7 136 30 7 134 38 45 136 13 13 - 8 0 0 11 43 40 25 29 -39 136 16 29 136 9 57 137 8 50 135 17 40 136 52 3 - 7 0 0 11 43 49 26 29 -40 136 55 18 136 48 47 137 47 35 135 56 35 137 30 55 - 6 0 0 11 43 58 27 29 -40 137 34 10 137 27 39 138 26 25 136 35 30 138 9 51 - 5 0 0 11 44 7 28 29 -41 138 13 7 138 6 35 139 5 20 137 14 28 138 48 53 - 4 0 0 11 44 17 30 29 -42 138 52 9 138 45 38 139 44 23 137 53 31 139 28 4 - 3 0 0 11 44 27 31 28 -43 139 31 20 139 24 48 140 23 36 138 32 40 140 7 25 - 2 0 0 11 44 38 32 28 -44 140 10 41 140 4 9 141 3 0 139 11 58 140 46 58 - 1 0 0 11 44 48 33 28 -44 140 50 14 140 43 42 141 42 39 139 51 26
Use these links for further information:
[Planetary Occultations]
[Using the Predictions]
[Observing Details]
[Timing Details]
[Reporting Details]
[Report Form]
[Asteroid Occultation Results]
[Top of Page][Return to Home Page]