A very narrow path, and a small asteroid.
This event is only rank 72, with 46% odds of a hit on centerline. But, high enough to be worth a try from home. It's bright, it's alt=61 at Az= 76 high in the NE, in the center of Perseus, and so should be gotten at 2x setting definitely. Skies are predicted to be clean and clear. The centerline goes through Aptos, and east of Ormsby/Eureka Cyn. Given the low rank, it's best to try this from home Karl, or Kirk (but not both! You're on the same track, you two) so we're widely spaced and one of us is likely to get it. I plan to work at the Observatory this night and get the 12" ready to swap back and forth between imaging with the ST2000XCM or the Watec camera for faint occultations. I'd then get the event from there, is my plan.
|
|
A very narrow path, and a small asteroid. |
I set Kirk to go to the Mar Monte exit for the event, to guard against a large shift. Then, after he'd probably left, suggested he might try staying a little closer and be at the Church on Freedom Blvd up from Hwy 1, but too late. I suggested Karl go to Ormsby and Eureka Cyn, as odds at home were too low.
My recent good luck held - Low rank event, but I got a max 0.6s occultation. Karl got a short event too. Kirk may have had a miss, or a very very short event? Reductions await...
I observed from the water tank road at the entrance to Horticulture Hill on the Cabrillo campus. I had clear skies and no clouds yet on the scene, but they came in from the northwest about 15 minutes after the occultation. I got a clean 0.6s occultation, at 2x and the other standard settings. I used the PowerShot to record just the 20s before and after the predicted time, as insurance. Didn't need it; it recorded on the ZR85 just fine.
 |
I was impressed with how bright the star was at 2x. |
 |
 |
Very strong signal. Reminds me of the Didymous event in the desert; 2x and very solid very short event. |
magDrop report: percentDrop: 92.1 magDrop: 2.756 +/- 0.386 (0.95 ci)
DNR: 5.34
D time: [03:39:03.2653]
D: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0051} seconds
D: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0121} seconds
D: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0239} seconds
R time: [03:39:03.8833]
R: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0051} seconds
R: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0121} seconds
R: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0239} seconds
Duration (R - D): 0.6181 seconds
Duration: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0074} seconds
Duration: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0163} seconds
Duration: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0292} seconds
Observed from home. He used 2x setting, and his data clearly shows a miss
 |
 |
Karl observed, at my suggestion, at the entrance to Ormsby Rd at Eureka Canyon Rd. He got a short event but it failed to record on the camcorder, but did record on his iPhone video off the monitor, which we think we can still input into PyMovie. He used 4x. The occultation was bright enough to be clear. I reduced his iPhone .mov file (PyMovie cannot reduce .mp4 files) and used manual time stamps that were very close to and on opposite sides of the event.
Karl's timings were a full second earlier than mine at Cabrillo College.
magDrop report: percentDrop: 96.9 magDrop: 3.770 +/- 0.911 (0.95 ci)
DNR: 7.56
D time: [03:39:02.2327]
D: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0058} seconds
D: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0135} seconds
D: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0264} seconds
R time: [03:39:02.9068]
R: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0058} seconds
R: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0135} seconds
R: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0264} seconds
Duration (R - D): 0.6741 seconds
Duration: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0085} seconds
Duration: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0186} seconds
Duration: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0328} seconds
 |
 |
 |
Solidly positive results. |
