"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
--Galileo Galilei.

Friday 9 January 2009

ASTEROIDAL OCCULTATION ON SATURDAY JANUARY 10

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The SOCIETY for POPULAR ASTRONOMY
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Special Electronic News Bulletin 2009 January 9
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ASTEROIDAL OCCULTATION ON SATURDAY JANUARY 10
By Jon Harper
Occultation Section Director

Asteroidal Occultation of 36 Aquarii by (626) Notburga
Saturday 2009 January 10 at around 18:09 UT in UK

There is an opportunity on Saturday evening to observe from the North
of England an asteroidal occultation of quite a bright star. Since
the star is of V magnitude 7.0, it may be possible to observe the
event with nothing more powerful than binoculars.

The co-ordinates of the occulted star are 22h 9m 26.9s, -8d 11m 38s.
It is 2 degrees west of Theta Aquarii, and 7 degrees west of Venus.
The event will occur low in the south-west, at an altitude and azimuth
of about 15 degrees and 231 degrees. The 100km-diameter asteroid
(626) Notburga has a visual magnitude of +13.6, resulting in a
magnitude drop of 6.6, so 36 Aqr will appear to wink out if you are in
the occultation path. The duration of the occultation at the central
line is estimated to be around 2.4 seconds. The occultation path, 100
km wide, crosses Northern England at about 18:09 UT. The most up-to-
date path prediction indicates that the occultation may be visible
from between the Northern Lake District to Liverpool in the North-
West, crossing the country to between Newcastle and Scarborough in
the North-East. The predicted centre-line runs from Morecambe to
Hartlepool via Darlington.

You should set up in good time and find the star. It is a good idea
to start watching it for any occultation a couple of minutes before
the predicted time. If you need a star chart of the area, please go
to: http://snipurl.com/9nf60 If you intend to do a timing please
download a report form from the SPA Occultation Section's web site:
http://snipurl.com/9nf73 You will find examples of how to fill
the forms in on the same page. If you require help please get in
touch. Please let me know how you get on, and if you do attempt a
timing I will be happy to receive your results.

jonvran@aol.com



Bulletin compiled by Clive Down

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