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Updated: 2009 DEC 15, 18:35 UT
Event Rank : 92
(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 2009 Dec 22 UT, the 74 km diameter asteroid (859) Bouzareah will occult a 7.7 mag star in the constellation Auriga for observers along a path across Australia from northeastern New South Wales at low elevation across Queensland near Mt Isa and across The Northern Territory to just south of Darwin.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 6.2 mag to 13.9 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 5.9 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: .
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
157 50 28 -39 0 0 16 45 17 0 327 -12 158 32 58 157 7 42 ... .. .. 156 25 33
156 59 18 -38 0 0 16 45 17 2 327 -14 157 41 33 156 16 49 ... .. .. 155 34 55
156 7 38 -37 0 0 16 45 17 3 328 -15 156 49 38 155 25 23 ... .. .. 154 43 43
155 15 24 -36 0 0 16 45 18 4 328 -16 155 57 12 154 33 21 156 37 54 153 51 52
154 22 33 -35 0 0 16 45 19 5 329 -17 155 4 10 153 40 39 155 44 43 152 59 20
153 29 1 -34 0 0 16 45 21 7 329 -18 154 10 31 152 47 15 154 50 55 152 6 2
152 34 46 -33 0 0 16 45 23 8 330 -20 153 16 10 151 53 6 153 56 27 151 11 57
151 39 44 -32 0 0 16 45 25 9 330 -21 152 21 4 150 58 6 153 1 17 150 17 1
150 43 51 -31 0 0 16 45 27 10 331 -22 151 25 9 150 2 14 152 5 20 149 21 9
149 47 3 -30 0 0 16 45 30 12 331 -23 150 28 22 149 5 25 151 8 33 148 24 17
148 49 16 -29 0 0 16 45 34 13 332 -25 149 30 38 148 7 34 150 10 52 147 26 22
147 50 27 -28 0 0 16 45 37 14 332 -26 148 31 54 147 8 38 149 12 13 146 27 19
146 50 29 -27 0 0 16 45 41 15 333 -27 147 32 5 146 8 32 148 12 30 145 27 4
145 49 19 -26 0 0 16 45 46 17 334 -29 146 31 5 145 7 10 147 11 40 144 25 29
144 46 50 -25 0 0 16 45 50 18 334 -30 145 28 50 144 4 27 146 9 37 143 22 31
143 42 58 -24 0 0 16 45 56 19 335 -31 144 25 14 143 0 17 145 6 16 142 18 2
142 37 34 -23 0 0 16 46 1 21 335 -33 143 20 10 141 54 32 144 1 30 141 11 56
141 30 33 -22 0 0 16 46 7 22 336 -34 142 13 32 140 47 7 142 55 13 140 4 5
140 21 46 -21 0 0 16 46 14 23 337 -36 141 5 12 139 37 51 141 47 18 138 54 20
139 11 5 -20 0 0 16 46 21 25 337 -37 139 55 2 138 26 37 140 37 37 137 42 31
137 58 19 -19 0 0 16 46 29 26 338 -39 138 42 52 137 13 14 139 26 0 136 28 28
136 43 18 -18 0 0 16 46 37 27 339 -40 137 28 32 135 57 29 138 12 17 135 11 59
135 25 49 -17 0 0 16 46 46 29 339 -42 136 11 49 134 39 11 136 56 18 133 52 49
134 5 38 -16 0 0 16 46 55 30 340 -43 134 52 31 133 18 2 135 37 49 132 30 41
132 42 26 -15 0 0 16 47 5 31 341 -45 133 30 21 131 53 46 134 16 35 131 5 17
131 15 56 -14 0 0 16 47 16 33 342 -46 132 5 1 130 26 1 132 52 20 129 36 14
129 45 43 -13 0 0 16 47 27 34 343 -48 130 36 9 128 54 22 131 24 42 128 3 4
128 11 20 -12 0 0 16 47 39 35 344 -49 129 3 19 127 18 18 129 53 18 126 25 14
126 32 12 -11 0 0 16 47 52 37 345 -51 127 26 1 125 37 12 128 17 40 124 42 3
Uncertainty in time = +/- 4 secs
Prediction of 2009 Dec 16.0
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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