The list shows occultations of possible double stars during March. Although the main emphasis remains on stars with separations < 2", now that the more detailed lunar limb profile from LOLA is available, some wider pairs are included. Doubles predicted to be occulted by the Moon during March 2018 and visible from parts of Australia or New Zealand are included. The listing is a very abbreviated version of predictions produced by Occult plus an indication of the region of visibility. Observers need to generate their own precise predictions using Occult.

The list below is generated by OCCULT for a 25cm telescope. Some of the events could be beyond the reach of smaller telescopes. Observations of all pairs in the list are highly desirable. Those showing an OCc number have been reported as non-instantaneous at a lunar occultation. Confirmation or otherwise of any double nature is wanted.

*** Kepler stars: the nights on which they are occulted are indicated. Individual Keplers are only shown if they are also a known or possible double. Light curve of occultations of all Kepler stars are desired.

Please send reports of all observations of these stars to Brian Loader at brian.loader@slingshot.co.nz, including any made in earlier months and not so far reported. And of course if you observe a stepped event for a star, which is not a known double, please report this. More details about reporting follow the predictions.

ARCHIVING OCCULTATION LIGHT CURVES

For ALL lunar occultations: single, double and Kepler K2 stars a csv file should be prepared for archiving. This can be done through the OBSERVATIONS EDITOR of OCCULT.

It will be necessary to generate a light curve using LIMOVIE and save or copy its csv file. You will also need to note the time, hh:mm:ss.sss of one frame and the corresponding frame number.

Then in the Observations Editor select the entry for the star and use the menu bar option to create a Light Curve Report. Follow the instructions on the new screen which appears. There is a help file. It is suggested that light curve reports be emailed in batches rather than singly. They are sent directly to Dave Herald from the program.

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 d P    Star  Mag    %         Double details        WDS or   Area of
Mar      No    v    ill      magnitudes sepn    PA?  OCC #    Visibility
 1 d   99157  7.4  100+ : AB  7.69 8.76 0.12"   6.8  HDS1507° TSCM,ChI
   ***  99157 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 248861096}
 3 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
 3 r  119382  9.3   96- : AB  9.4 10.6  7.8"  220.1  AG  177  M
   *** 119382 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 201624633}
 4 R  139227  7.7   91- : Aab 8.0 10.0  0.40" 326.4  TOK  69  RB,Ak
                        : AB  7.7 10.1  9.6"  302.0  STF1731  RB,Ak
 5 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkWCh
 5 r  139718  8.1   84- : AB  8.2  9.0  4.4"  296.0  STF1799  TSCM,WChI
      139718:  B star is X127886  
 6 r  158854  8.9   76- : AB  9.30 9.84 0.40" 229.5  RST3898  RBTSCM,AkWChI
 6 R    2137  6.6   75- : **  7.2  7.2  0.05" 350.0  OCc1469  RM
 7 r  159415# 8.2   68- : AB  8.78 9.09 0.03"  94.4  HDS2210  RBT,AkW
   *** 159415 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 250128530}
 7 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBSCM,AkWChI
 8 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,I
 8 r    2365# 7.3   58- : AB  7.60 8.78 0.26"  49.9  RST3950° BTSCM,AkWChI
 9 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
 9 r  160421# 8.6   49- : AB  8.9 10.0  1.00"  53.8  STN  33  ,WChI
   *** 160421 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 233404113}
 9 r  160499  8.5   48- : AB  8.7 11.8  6.0"  305.0  ARA 442  RBTSC,AkWChI
   *** 160499 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 234549935}
 9 r  160522* 9.0   47- : **  9.6  9.6  2.5"   91.0  OCc1502  RBT,W
10 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,WChI
10 r  161190  8.2   38- : **  8.3  9.5  0.12" 304.0  OCc 465  RB,Ak
10 r X 43571  9.3   38- : ** 10.1 10.3  0.9"  230.0  OCc 466  TSCM,WChI
10 r X152532 10.0   38- : ** 10.0       0.05" 309.0  OCc 467  ,AkW
10 r X 43600# 8.8   38- : AB  9.6  9.6  0.30"  92.0  RST5108  RBTSCM,AkWChI
10 r  161220  8.2   38- : AB  8.9  9.0  0.20" 343.0  B  1883  R
10 r X153657 10.3   38- : AB 10.3 11.4  2.4"  109.4  B  2439  I
10 r X154008  9.1   38- : AB  9.2 10.7  7.4"  295.8  B  2862  RBTSCM
10 R  161273# 7.6   38- : Bab 8.7  9.6  0.10" 334.4  WSI  89  RBTSCM
                        : AB  8.40 8.27 0.50" 114.1  BU  246  RBTSCM
10 R X 43762* 8.2   37- : AB  9.0  9.3  0.30" 273.0  WRH  30  RM
11 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSC,AkWChI
11 r  162065* 9.0   30- : **  9.5 10.5  1.0"   46.0  OCc 346  ,WChI
   *** 162065 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 218160323}
11 r  187689  8.9   29- : AB  8.9 11.2 14.7"   85.4  HJ 2853  RB
   *** 187689 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 217774471}
11 R    2798* 6.1   28- : AB  7.0  7.1  0.13" 259.8  B   427° RBTSCM
   ***   2798 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 217877915}
12 R    2902#?5.9   21- : **  6.8  6.8  0.05" 350.0  OCc1587  ,Ak
13 r  163822 10.5   14- : AB 10.6 11.2  1.5"  217.5  RST3267  ,WChI
13 r  163865  9.1   14- : AB  9.9  9.7  0.28" 108.9  HU  271  ,WChI
15 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RB,AkWChI

20 d  110398  9.3    9+ : **  9.1 10.1  0.20" 277.0  OCc1179  BTS
21 d   93301  7.2   16+ : **  7.9  7.9  0.10" 263.0  OCc 575  R
22 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
23 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    B,AkWChI
23 d     744  9.5   35+ : AB  9.7 11.5  0.47" 240.6  COU 709  B,AkWChI
   ***    744 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247133947}
24 d   77757* 7.9   46+ : **  8.7  8.7  0.04" 285.0  OCc1046  ,ChI
24 D     903  8.2   47+ : **  9.0  9.0  0.02" 188.0  OCc1049  RBTSC,AkWCh
25 d   78890  9.5   57+ : **  9.9  9.9  0.10"   0.0  OCc 851  ,AkWCh
25 D   78896  7.4   57+ : AB 10.7 11.8  1.7"  202.0  COU 920  ,AkWChI
25 d X 10136  9.5   58+ : ** 11.7 11.7  0.10" 155.0  OCc 845  ,AkWChI
25 d   78920  8.8   58+ : **  9.7  9.7  0.10"   0.0  OCc 854  ,AkWChI
25 d   78919  8.3   58+ : **  9.2  9.2  0.050  17.7  OCc 852  ,AkWChI
25 d   78953  8.5   58+ : **  9.5  9.5  0.10" 270.0  OCc 291  RBTS,AkWChI
25 d   78958  9.0   58+ : **  9.8  9.8  0.10"  83.0  OCc 846  RBTSC,AkWChI
25 D    1077* 4.0   59+ : **  4.5  4.5  0.10"  90.0  OCc 293  RBT,AkW
25 d   79047  7.8   59+ : AB  7.9 11.3  1.85" 268.0  BU  900  TSCM
26 d   79815  8.5   69+ : AB  9.10 9.29 0.63" 332.3  COU 930  ,AkW
26 d X106628# 9.8   69+ : ** 10.4 10.6  0.04" 245.0  OCc1680  RBT
26 d   97479  8.6   69+ : AB  8.7 12.7  5.8"  264.1  HJ 2423  R
26 d   79912* 8.6   70+ : **  9.3  9.3  0.10" 301.0  OCc 804  CM,I
27 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
27 d   98376  9.6   80+ : ** 10.0 10.0  0.10" 222.0  OCc 616  R
27 d   98430  7.7   81+ : AB  8.32 8.71 1.39"  56.1  STF1322  R
        98430:  B star is X113668
28 d    1493# 6.5   90+ : AB  6.90 7.87 0.24" 285.7 HU  874?  SCM
29 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBT,AkWChI
29 D    1596  7.2   95+ : AB  7.2 12.0  1.6"  114.5 A  2774   RBTSCM,AkWChI
   ***   1596 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 248769093}
30 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    ,AkW

======================================================================

Visibility codes:
Australia: R Rockhampton, B Brisbane, T Tamworth, S Sydney, C Canberra, M Melbourne  

NZ (following a ,) Ak Auckland, W Wellington, Ch Christchurch, I Invercargill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stars with previous occultation observations: 

#: Observations indicating double - these need further checking
*: Observations not showing double - need confirmation
!: Recent video discoveries - confirmation needed.
?: Uncertain double observation, confirmation or otherwise needed

A WDS number followed by a ° sign indicates the double has a known orbit.

==================================================================

Reporting Your Observations

The most convenient way of reporting is to use Dave Herald's OCCULT which has a Double Star report option in the Observations editor. Before using it, generate a light curve with Limovie and copy to the clip board. Your graph will be attached to the email which you can then send to brian.loader@slingshot.co.nz.

Otherwise in reporting please include your name and positional data as for other occultations reports, also your telescope type and method of observing and timekeeping.

For each event give the star name and the times of each step of the event with the corresponding accuracy. The limb PA, Rv and Cct of the event would also be useful.

In addition to measures of the PA and separation of binary stars, there is also a need for an estimate of the magnitude difference. An estimate of this can be made from the step sizes shown by Limovie data. So if possible a determination should be made of the size of each step together with an estimate of accuracy.

Please also report cases where a double event is predicted but none detected. These are especially likely with stars shown with an OCc designation

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