Zerbinetta Occultation Oct 13, 2004

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

Asteroid, Star: (693) Zerbinetta, TYC 7417-00317-1

Telescope: 12" Meade LX200 f/10 with Celestron f/6.3 reducer

Location: Cabrillo College Observatory, W.Long= 121 55 27.3, N. Lat 36 59 34.1, elev 190ft, WGS84 coordinates from USGS map at topozone.com

Method: PC 164C video camera with manual gain control modification, recorded on VHS tape with WWV audio.

Sky: clear, poor seeing at the 20 degree altitude of the star. Star continuously visible except for occasional instantaneous seeing dropouts.

Timings: Oct 13, 2004 UT

D: 02:33:20.87 preliminary, final using time insertion: 2:33:20.77 +/- 0.03

R: 02:33:23.12 preliminary, final using time insertion: 2:33:23.27 +0.03/-0.09

Comments:

Derald Nye used his equipment to time insert the video and determine accurate times - thanks Derald! The preliminary timings here were done by repeated viewing of a VHS tape using eye/ear of clear time signals, and also stopwatch to get an accurate interval for the event. After 15 good interval measurements with the stop watch, the result was 2.40 second interval with a standard deviation of 0.016 second.

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