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Updated: 2007 SEP 26, 18:08 UT
Event Rank : 89
(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 2007 Nov 07 UT, the 51 km diameter asteroid (679) Pax will occult a 10.2 mag star in the constellation Phoenix for observers along a south-to-north path beginning in New South Wales directly over Sydney. Moving north the path passes near Tamworth, and then into Queensland passing about 300km west of Brisbane before ending just north of Rockhampton.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 2.0 mag to 12.0 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 4.9 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Alice Monet, 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 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 42 39 -37 19 24 13 52 9 55 247 -36 151 22 12 -37 22 57 152 3 8 -37 15 46 151 0 9 -37 26 42 152 25 17 -37 11 45
151 28 13 -36 7 19 13 52 22 54 246 -38 151 8 3 -36 10 51 151 48 25 -36 3 42 150 46 19 -36 14 34 152 10 16 -35 59 43
151 15 21 -34 54 46 13 52 35 54 244 -39 150 55 27 -34 58 17 151 35 17 -34 51 10 150 34 0 -35 1 59 151 56 51 -34 47 12
151 3 58 -33 41 42 13 52 47 54 243 -40 150 44 19 -33 45 12 151 23 40 -33 38 7 150 23 8 -33 48 54 151 44 58 -33 34 9
150 54 2 -32 28 5 13 53 0 53 241 -41 150 34 37 -32 31 36 151 13 30 -32 24 30 150 13 41 -32 35 18 151 34 34 -32 20 32
150 45 31 -31 13 53 13 53 13 53 240 -43 150 26 18 -31 17 24 151 4 46 -31 10 17 150 5 36 -31 21 7 151 25 36 -31 6 19
150 38 21 -29 59 3 13 53 26 52 239 -44 150 19 20 -30 2 35 150 57 25 -29 55 27 149 58 51 -30 6 19 151 18 2 -29 51 27
150 32 32 -28 43 32 13 53 38 51 237 -45 150 13 42 -28 47 6 150 51 25 -28 39 54 149 53 25 -28 50 51 151 11 51 -28 35 54
150 28 3 -27 27 18 13 53 51 51 236 -46 150 9 23 -27 30 53 150 46 46 -27 23 38 149 49 16 -27 34 39 151 7 1 -27 19 35
150 24 52 -26 10 15 13 54 4 50 235 -48 150 6 21 -26 13 52 150 43 26 -26 6 33 149 46 23 -26 17 42 151 3 32 -26 2 28
150 23 0 -24 52 21 13 54 16 49 233 -49 150 4 37 -24 56 1 150 41 26 -24 48 36 149 44 48 -24 59 54 151 1 24 -24 44 28
150 22 27 -23 33 32 13 54 29 48 232 -50 150 4 10 -23 37 15 150 40 46 -23 29 43 149 44 29 -23 41 11 151 0 37 -23 25 31
150 23 13 -22 13 42 13 54 42 47 231 -51 150 5 3 -22 17 29 150 41 27 -22 9 49 149 45 28 -22 21 29 151 1 11 -22 5 32
150 25 21 -20 52 46 13 54 55 47 230 -53 150 7 15 -20 56 38 150 43 30 -20 48 49 149 47 47 -21 0 43 151 3 9 -20 44 26
150 28 52 -19 30 39 13 55 7 46 229 -54 150 10 51 -19 34 36 150 46 57 -19 26 36 149 51 26 -19 38 47 151 6 32 -19 22 8
Use these links for further information:
[Planetary Occultations]
[Using the Predictions]
[Observing Details]
[Timing Details]
[Reporting Details]
[Report Form]
[Asteroid Occultation Results]
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