Updated: 2008 OCT 01, 04:10 UT
Event Rank : 18
(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 Oct 07 UT, the 36 km diameter asteroid (597) Bandusia will occult a 9.2 mag star in the constellation Taurus for observers along a path across South Australia and Northern Territory.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 4.5 mag to 13.7 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 6.4 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: .
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 134 20 15 -37 0 0 18 11 49 26 6 -27 134 32 36 134 7 53 136 4 48 132 35 12 134 20 29 -36 0 0 18 11 58 27 6 -27 134 32 40 134 8 16 136 3 43 132 36 46 134 20 24 -35 0 0 18 12 7 28 6 -27 134 32 27 134 8 21 136 2 22 132 37 58 134 20 2 -34 0 0 18 12 16 29 6 -28 134 31 56 134 8 7 136 0 48 132 38 49 134 19 22 -33 0 0 18 12 26 30 6 -28 134 31 8 134 7 35 135 58 59 132 39 18 134 18 26 -32 0 0 18 12 36 31 6 -29 134 30 4 134 6 47 135 56 57 132 39 28 134 17 13 -31 0 0 18 12 46 32 6 -29 134 28 44 134 5 41 135 54 43 132 39 18 134 15 45 -30 0 0 18 12 57 33 6 -30 134 27 9 134 4 20 135 52 15 132 38 49 134 14 1 -29 0 0 18 13 8 34 6 -30 134 25 18 134 2 43 135 49 36 132 38 2 134 12 2 -28 0 0 18 13 19 35 6 -31 134 23 13 134 0 51 135 46 44 132 36 57 134 9 49 -27 0 0 18 13 31 36 6 -31 134 20 54 133 58 44 135 43 40 132 35 35 134 7 22 -26 0 0 18 13 42 37 6 -32 134 18 21 133 56 22 135 40 25 132 33 56 134 4 41 -25 0 0 18 13 54 38 6 -32 134 15 35 133 53 46 135 36 58 132 32 0 134 1 46 -24 0 0 18 14 7 39 6 -32 134 12 35 133 50 57 135 33 21 132 29 49 133 58 38 -23 0 0 18 14 19 40 6 -33 134 9 23 133 47 54 135 29 32 132 27 22 133 55 17 -22 0 0 18 14 32 41 6 -33 134 5 57 133 44 37 135 25 33 132 24 40 133 51 44 -21 0 0 18 14 45 42 7 -34 134 2 19 133 41 8 135 21 23 132 21 43 133 47 58 -20 0 0 18 14 58 43 7 -34 133 58 29 133 37 26 135 17 3 132 18 31 133 43 59 -19 0 0 18 15 12 44 7 -34 133 54 27 133 33 32 135 12 32 132 15 5 133 39 49 -18 0 0 18 15 26 45 7 -35 133 50 13 133 29 25 135 7 52 132 11 25 133 35 27 -17 0 0 18 15 40 46 7 -35 133 45 47 133 25 6 135 3 1 132 7 31 133 30 53 -16 0 0 18 15 54 47 7 -35 133 41 10 133 20 35 134 58 1 132 3 24 133 26 7 -15 0 0 18 16 8 48 7 -36 133 36 22 133 15 52 134 52 51 131 59 3 133 21 10 -14 0 0 18 16 23 49 8 -36 133 31 22 133 10 57 134 47 31 131 54 28 133 16 1 -13 0 0 18 16 38 50 8 -36 133 26 11 133 5 51 134 42 2 131 49 41 133 10 42 -12 0 0 18 16 53 51 8 -37 133 20 49 133 0 34 134 36 23 131 44 40 133 5 11 -11 0 0 18 17 9 52 8 -37 133 15 16 132 55 5 134 30 34 131 39 27 132 59 29 -10 0 0 18 17 24 53 8 -37 133 9 32 132 49 25 134 24 37 131 34 1 Uncertainty in time = +/- 24 secs [Prediction of 2008 Oct 1.0]
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