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Updated: 2008 JAN 05, 20:46 UT
Event Rank : 72
(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 2008 Feb 08 UT, the 63 km diameter asteroid (738) Alagasta will occult a 12.4 mag star in the constellation Taurus for observers along a south to north path beginning over Tasmania passing Hobart and Burnie. Then through central eastern Australia passing near Melbourne, Shepparton, Griffith and ending over central north-west Queensland.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 2.9 mag to 15.2 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 34.7 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 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
148 8 18 -48 0 0 10 53 11 21 351 -12 148 33 58 147 42 40 149 15 36 147 1 10
147 54 3 -47 0 0 10 53 34 22 351 -12 148 19 13 147 28 53 149 0 4 146 48 10
147 40 6 -46 0 0 10 53 58 23 351 -13 148 4 49 147 15 24 148 44 55 146 35 25
147 26 26 -45 0 0 10 54 22 24 351 -13 147 50 43 147 2 10 148 30 6 146 22 54
147 13 1 -44 0 0 10 54 48 25 351 -14 147 36 54 146 49 10 148 15 37 146 10 33
146 59 50 -43 0 0 10 55 15 26 351 -15 147 23 19 146 36 22 148 1 24 145 58 23
146 46 51 -42 0 0 10 55 43 27 351 -15 147 9 57 146 23 45 147 47 26 145 46 22
146 34 2 -41 0 0 10 56 11 28 351 -16 146 56 48 146 11 17 147 33 42 145 34 28
146 21 23 -40 0 0 10 56 41 29 351 -16 146 43 48 145 58 58 147 20 10 145 22 41
146 8 52 -39 0 0 10 57 11 30 351 -17 146 30 59 145 46 46 147 6 49 145 11 0
145 56 28 -38 0 0 10 57 43 31 351 -17 146 18 17 145 34 41 146 53 38 144 59 23
145 44 12 -37 0 0 10 58 15 32 351 -18 146 5 43 145 22 41 146 40 37 144 47 51
145 32 0 -36 0 0 10 58 49 33 351 -18 145 53 15 145 10 46 146 27 43 144 36 23
145 19 54 -35 0 0 10 59 23 34 351 -19 145 40 54 144 58 55 146 14 56 144 24 57
145 7 53 -34 0 0 10 59 58 35 351 -19 145 28 38 144 47 9 146 2 15 144 13 34
144 55 55 -33 0 0 11 0 34 36 351 -20 145 16 26 144 35 25 145 49 41 144 2 13
144 44 1 -32 0 0 11 1 11 37 351 -20 145 4 18 144 23 44 145 37 11 143 50 53
144 32 9 -31 0 0 11 1 48 38 351 -21 144 52 14 144 12 5 145 24 47 143 39 35
144 20 20 -30 0 0 11 2 27 39 351 -22 144 40 13 144 0 28 145 12 26 143 28 17
144 8 33 -29 0 0 11 3 6 40 351 -22 144 28 14 143 48 52 145 0 9 143 17 0
143 56 48 -28 0 0 11 3 46 41 351 -23 144 16 19 143 37 18 144 47 56 143 5 44
143 45 5 -27 0 0 11 4 27 42 350 -23 144 4 25 143 25 45 144 35 45 142 54 27
143 33 23 -26 0 0 11 5 9 43 350 -24 143 52 33 143 14 13 144 23 38 142 43 11
143 21 42 -25 0 0 11 5 51 44 350 -24 143 40 43 143 2 42 144 11 33 142 31 55
143 10 3 -24 0 0 11 6 34 45 350 -25 143 28 55 142 51 11 143 59 30 142 20 38
142 58 24 -23 0 0 11 7 18 46 350 -25 143 17 8 142 39 40 143 47 30 142 9 21
142 46 46 -22 0 0 11 8 3 47 350 -26 143 5 22 142 28 10 143 35 32 141 58 4
142 35 9 -21 0 0 11 8 48 48 349 -26 142 53 38 142 16 41 143 23 35 141 46 46
142 23 33 -20 0 0 11 9 35 49 349 -27 142 41 55 142 5 12 143 11 41 141 35 28
142 11 58 -19 0 0 11 10 21 50 349 -27 142 30 13 141 53 43 142 59 48 141 24 10
142 0 23 -18 0 0 11 11 9 51 349 -28 142 18 32 141 42 15 142 47 58 141 12 52
141 48 50 -17 0 0 11 11 57 52 349 -28 142 6 53 141 30 47 142 36 9 141 1 33
141 37 17 -16 0 0 11 12 46 53 348 -29 141 55 15 141 19 20 142 24 22 140 50 15
141 25 46 -15 0 0 11 13 35 54 348 -29 141 43 39 141 7 53 142 12 38 140 38 56
141 14 15 -14 0 0 11 14 25 55 348 -29 141 32 4 140 56 27 142 0 55 140 27 38
141 2 46 -13 0 0 11 15 16 56 347 -30 141 20 30 140 45 3 141 49 15 140 16 20
140 51 19 -12 0 0 11 16 7 57 347 -30 141 8 59 140 33 39 141 37 37 140 5 3
140 39 53 -11 0 0 11 16 59 58 347 -31 140 57 30 140 22 17 141 26 2 139 53 47
140 28 29 -10 0 0 11 17 52 59 346 -31 140 46 2 140 10 56 141 14 29 139 42 31
140 17 7 - 9 0 0 11 18 45 60 346 -32 140 34 38 139 59 37 141 3 0 139 31 17
140 5 48 - 8 0 0 11 19 38 61 345 -32 140 23 15 139 48 20 140 51 33 139 20 4
139 54 31 - 7 0 0 11 20 32 61 345 -33 140 11 56 139 37 5 140 40 10 139 8 53
139 43 16 - 6 0 0 11 21 26 62 344 -33 140 0 40 139 25 53 140 28 51 138 57 44
139 32 5 - 5 0 0 11 22 21 63 343 -33 139 49 27 139 14 44 140 17 36 138 46 37
139 20 58 - 4 0 0 11 23 17 64 343 -34 139 38 18 139 3 37 140 6 25 138 35 33
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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