|
A 5.4 second occultation was recorded by Jonathan Bradshaw, using video OSD technique.
One clearly observed miss was recorded for this event.
View the updated prediction.
Observers: 1 J Bradshaw,Samford Valley, Qld, AU 3(M) J Broughton,Reedy Creek, QLD, AU 4(P) Prediction
Discussion:
The circle above is plotted at the expected 32 km diameter of Sara. With one chord and a contraining miss We can be sure that Jonathan was south-west of the central line of the event.
The figure below shows the Limovie light curve of the occultation.
There is a hint of a step in the D and R which might signal a double star. I asked for a second opinion on this and Brian replies.
Thanks for sending on the observation of the occultation by Sara made by
Jonathan Bradshaw.
I see the predicted duration was about 9 seconds, and Jonathan's event
last about 6 seconds. So presumably some way off centre. The asteroid was
moving quite slowly, at something like 0.002"/second, about 1-10th of the
asteroid's diameter in a second.
To my mind the light curve looks more like one due to a slow occultation,
maybe with diffraction effects rather than a double. The decay is
reasonably steady. The increase does have a kink in the light curve, but
looking at the noise when the star was visible, this could also be a noise
effect.
I don't feel there is a need to assume a double star to account for the
light changes, it would be very difficult to say where the double is
indicated as there is no step. It may be telling us something about the
edge of the asteroid being near to parallel to its direction of movement
close to where the occultation occurred.
You may want to compare to the light curve I obtained at a grazing lunar
occultation early this year, see the recent Southern Stars.
Regards,
Brian
_______________________________
Based on this advice and my doubts, this event will be treated as a single chord.
It will result in the same level of accuracy for the astrometry as if it was treated as double.
Observational Data:
Observation details for MP ( 533 ) Sara By Star UCAC2 26566386 On 2013-09-12 at 13:30:06.0 _______________________________ Observer Jonathan Bradshaw Location Samford Valley, Qld, Australia Longitude +152:50 Latitude -27:22 Altitude 80 m Datum WGS84 Telescope SCT including Cass and Mak Aperture 36 cm Seeing Steady Clear Camera Type G-Star PAL/CCIR Camera Delay -0.07 Timing GPS - time inserted Video with frame analysis Disappearance 13:30:32.56 Reappearance 13:30:38.44 Comments: 6 frame gradual D and R in great confitions - possible double star at 0 or 180 degrees PA? Report prepopulated by IOTA Reporting Add-in for OW ver.1.7 _______________________________ Observer Jonathan Bradshaw Location Samford Valley, Qld, Australia Longitude +152:50 Latitude -27:22 Altitude 80 m Datum WGS84 Telescope SCT including Cass and Mak Aperture 36 cm Seeing Steady Clear Camera Type G-Star PAL/CCIR Camera Delay -0.07 Timing GPS - time inserted Video with frame analysis Disappearance 13:30:32.80 Reappearance 13:30:38.24 Comments: 6 frame gradual D and R in great confitions - possible double star at 0 or 180 degrees PA? Report prepopulated by IOTA Reporting Add-in for OW ver.1.7