Updated: 2008 OCT 01, 04:23 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 2008 Oct 09 UT, the 82 km diameter asteroid (231) Vindobona will occult a 11.3 mag star in the constellation Auriga for observers along a path across eastern South Australia, beginning near Victor Harbour, running into western New South Wales, passing over Broken Hill, into Queensland leaving near Rockhampton.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 3.7 mag to 15.0 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 16.9 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Alice Monet, TMO astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Bill Owen, 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 136 37 10 -39 0 0 18 29 27 20 14 -20 137 19 17 135 55 15 138 17 44 134 57 42 137 23 6 -38 0 0 18 29 40 22 13 -20 138 4 49 136 41 34 139 2 43 135 44 34 138 9 8 -37 0 0 18 29 53 23 13 -20 138 50 29 137 27 58 139 47 55 136 31 29 138 55 19 -36 0 0 18 30 7 24 12 -20 139 36 22 138 14 29 140 33 21 137 18 28 139 41 43 -35 0 0 18 30 22 25 11 -20 140 22 28 139 1 11 141 19 5 138 5 34 140 28 21 -34 0 0 18 30 38 26 11 -19 141 8 51 139 48 4 142 5 7 138 52 50 141 15 17 -33 0 0 18 30 54 27 10 -19 141 55 34 140 35 14 142 51 32 139 40 19 142 2 33 -32 0 0 18 31 11 28 9 -19 142 42 38 141 22 42 143 38 22 140 28 4 142 50 12 -31 0 0 18 31 29 29 8 -18 143 30 8 142 10 30 144 25 40 141 16 7 143 38 17 -30 0 0 18 31 48 30 7 -18 144 18 6 142 58 43 145 13 29 142 4 31 144 26 52 -29 0 0 18 32 7 32 7 -18 145 6 35 143 47 23 146 1 52 142 53 20 145 15 58 -28 0 0 18 32 28 33 6 -17 145 55 39 144 36 34 146 50 53 143 42 36 146 5 41 -27 0 0 18 32 49 34 5 -17 146 45 21 145 26 18 147 40 35 144 32 24 146 56 3 -26 0 0 18 33 11 35 4 -16 147 35 45 146 16 40 148 31 1 145 22 46 147 47 9 -25 0 0 18 33 33 36 3 -16 148 26 54 147 7 43 149 22 17 146 13 46 148 39 2 -24 0 0 18 33 57 37 2 -15 149 18 53 147 59 31 150 14 25 147 5 29 149 31 47 -23 0 0 18 34 21 38 1 -14 150 11 46 148 52 8 151 7 32 147 57 57 150 25 29 -22 0 0 18 34 47 39 360 -14 151 5 39 149 45 40 152 1 42 148 51 16 151 20 12 -21 0 0 18 35 13 40 359 -13 152 0 36 150 40 11 152 57 1 149 45 31 152 16 3 -20 0 0 18 35 40 41 357 -12 152 56 44 151 35 46 153 53 34 150 40 47 153 13 8 -19 0 0 18 36 8 42 356 -11 153 54 9 152 32 32 154 51 30 151 37 9 154 11 33 -18 0 0 18 36 37 43 355 -11 154 52 58 153 30 34 155 50 54 152 34 43 Uncertainty in time = +/- 12 secs [Prediction of 2008 Oct 1.0]
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