The Occultation of a W=13.0 Star by (43948) 2000 RT8

Thur eve Feb 20, 2025 9:18:50pm

OWc page

 

This is the 4th event of the evening. Perhaps the best, at least it's the brightest of them. The event is well place for Cabrillo Observatory. If no fog, go to Cabrillo. Must meet Sandy A for gear exchange anyway. If you must escape fog, the entrance to Henry Cowell Redwoods on Graham Hill Rd.

     

 

Results:

Richard Nolthenius

I observed and recorded from the small parking lot on the east side of "The Farm" Park, off Soquel Drive. To max S/N, I disconnected the monitor.

Start:
End: 5:20:07UT

First Analysis: Use Median Filtering horiz/vert with redact 111. 2.4px fixed circular masks,

magDrop report: percentDrop: 83.2 magDrop: 1.935 +/- 0.540 (0.95 ci)

DNR: 3.59

D time: [05:18:49.3389]
D: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0335} seconds
D: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0849} seconds
D: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1672} seconds

R time: [05:18:50.1389]
R: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0335} seconds
R: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0849} seconds
R: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1672} seconds

Duration (R - D): 0.8000 seconds
Duration: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0483} seconds
Duration: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1090} seconds
Duration: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1991} seconds

 

     

 

Second Analysis: No median filtering, all else the same

magDrop report: percentDrop: 81.9 magDrop: 1.853 +/- 0.580 (0.95 ci)

DNR: 3.46

D time: [05:18:49.3389]
D: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0362} seconds
D: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0920} seconds
D: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1930} seconds

R time: [05:18:50.1389]
R: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0362} seconds
R: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0920} seconds
R: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1930} seconds

Duration (R - D): 0.8000 seconds
Duration: 0.6800 containment intervals: {+/- 0.0526} seconds
Duration: 0.9500 containment intervals: {+/- 0.1198} seconds
Duration: 0.9973 containment intervals: {+/- 0.2231} seconds

   
       

 

Kirk Bender

I don't have a clear event for 2000 RT8 in the noise, 4x by the trail crossing, Feb 20. There is a drop at about predicted event time, but PyOTE will not find it, it instead finds other events 20 or 30 seconds later, depending on the mask size, with false positive sigma distances less than 2.   There are drops scattered throughout the recording. I tried TME, and a nest of different static mask sizes, none of them had PyOTE find an event near predicted time. Pyote detectability test said "An event of duration 0.250 seconds with magDrop: 4.6 is likely detectable." I was near the blue path edge, so it wouldn't be surprising to gete a miss or too short to detect.

However, Kirk then trimmed out the distant side drop outs and asked PyOTE again, and PyOTE found an event at the proper time. Note, Kirk does not use median filtering  as it worsens the solutions significantly. His Watec chip is evidently rather higher fidelity than the others in our group, and Bob Anderson has already observed that using median filtering when not necessary, can worsen the statistical errors.

magDrop report: percentDrop: 79.6  magDrop: 1.726  +/- 0.669  (0.95 ci)

DNR: 2.70

D time: [05:18:50.7474]
D: 0.6800 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0162} seconds
D: 0.9500 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0431} seconds
D: 0.9973 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0945} seconds

R time: [05:18:50.8809]
R: 0.6800 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0162} seconds
R: 0.9500 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0431} seconds
R: 0.9973 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0945} seconds

Duration (R - D): 0.1335 seconds
Duration: 0.6800 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0229} seconds
Duration: 0.9500 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.0535} seconds
Duration: 0.9973 containment intervals:  {+/- 0.1068} seconds