Updated: 2006 MAR 17, 19:03 UT
Event Rank : 79
(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 2006 Apr 24 UT, the 74 km diameter asteroid (735) Marghanna will occult a 9.1 mag star in the constellation Sagittarius for observers along a path running across Papua New Guinea and just off the coast of southern Queensland.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 4.9 mag to 14.0 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 7.2 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Ron Stone, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: Hipparcos .
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 Limit1 Path Limit2 Error Limit1 Error Limit2 E. Longitude Latitude U.T. Alt Az Alt o ' " o ' " h m s o o o o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' " Longitude Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude Latitude 151 59 24 -19 0 6 15 30 38 52 124 -65 152 23 9 -18 57 29 151 35 32 -19 2 36 152 55 45 -18 53 42 151 2 24 -19 5 51 152 28 25 -20 25 5 15 30 52 53 122 -64 152 52 17 -20 22 21 152 4 27 -20 27 43 153 25 2 -20 18 23 151 31 10 -20 31 9 152 56 26 -21 49 1 15 31 7 54 121 -64 153 20 25 -21 46 9 152 32 19 -21 51 46 153 53 21 -21 42 1 151 58 52 -21 55 22 153 23 31 -23 11 59 15 31 21 55 119 -63 153 47 40 -23 9 0 152 59 16 -23 14 51 154 20 48 -23 4 43 152 25 35 -23 18 37 153 49 46 -24 34 5 15 31 35 56 118 -62 154 14 6 -24 31 0 153 25 20 -24 37 4 154 47 28 -24 26 33 152 51 26 -24 41 0 154 15 16 -25 55 25 15 31 49 57 116 -61 154 39 47 -25 52 13 153 50 38 -25 58 30 155 13 26 -25 47 37 153 16 27 -26 2 34 154 40 3 -27 16 2 15 32 3 58 114 -60 155 4 47 -27 12 44 154 15 12 -27 19 13 155 38 44 -27 7 59 153 40 43 -27 23 27 155 4 12 -28 36 1 15 32 17 59 112 -59 155 29 11 -28 32 37 154 39 7 -28 39 19 156 3 27 -28 27 44 154 4 17 -28 43 41 155 27 46 -29 55 27 15 32 32 60 110 -58 155 53 0 -29 51 56 155 2 25 -29 58 50 156 27 38 -29 46 56 154 27 13 -30 3 21 155 50 48 -31 14 22 15 32 46 60 108 -57 156 16 19 -31 10 46 155 25 9 -31 17 52 156 51 20 -31 5 37 154 49 34 -31 22 30
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