Circe Occultation Feb 10, 2004

Observer: Richard Nolthenius (831) 479-6506, rinolthe at cabrillo.edu

Asteroid, Star: (34) Circe, TYC 1314-00845-1

Telescope: 12" Meade LX200 f/10, equatorial, 117x magnification

Location: Cabrillo Observatory, W.Long= 121 55 27.3, N. Lat 36 59 34.1, elev 190ft, NAD83 coordinates from USGS map at topozone.com

Method: Voice/WWV/tape recorder

Sky: clear, fair seeing, star visibility: near limit but continuously visible with concentration and rare brief dropouts.

Timings: Feb 10, 2004 UT

D: 08:27:26.15 acc=0.3sec, reaction time 0.8 sec

R: 08:27:56.90 acc=0.2sec, reaction time 0.5 sec

Comments: Began continuous observing at 08:25:30, end 08:30:00. Brief events due to satellites could have been confused with seeing dropouts. Otherwise, very strong confidence in the timings above. No obvious indication of gradual or stepwise events. Length of event consistent with central occultation according to predictions.

Reported to: Notification of this web posting sent to Walt Morgan, David Dunham, Jan Manek