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Updated: 2006 JAN 21, 00:07 UT
Event Rank : 81
(The event Rank is a measure of the likelihood of observing an event, and is equal to the probability of at least one successful observation by a team of two observers spaced 1/8 path width just inside opposite sides of the predicted path. An event rank of 100 indicates that the prediction is expected to be very accurate).
THE UPDATED PATH
Note: The duration given in the line below is the interval during which the occultation shadow sweeps across the Earth - please see the minute markers on the map to determine the approximate time for your location.
On 2006 Jan 28 UT, the 65 km diameter asteroid (604) Tekmessa will occult a 9.1 mag star in the constellation Taurus for observers along a path centred over Cook Strait with Wellington, New Zealand, directly in the path.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 4.6 mag to 13.7 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 23.5 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Ron Stone, TMO astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Bill Owen, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: UCAC.
Additional details of this and other events are available at Steve Preston's website at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/
EVENT DETAILS SUMMARY :Important Note regarding Accuracy:
The uncertainty interval in path widths given above (and shown as a 1-sigma uncertainty ellipse on the plot) refers to RMS deviation and is applied as a +/- range. In other words, a path uncertainty of 1.0 path widths means that the actual center of the asteroid's shadow path should fall within plus or minus 1 path width of the plotted path center. However path errors larger than 1 sigma have been observed so observers should be alert for primary occultations within plus or minus 3 sigma of the updated path.
Further, almost all asteroidal satellites discovered so far have been found within 10 diameters of the asteroid (since this distance is deep enough within the gravitational well to be stable over long timescales). Therefore, if monitoring for secondary events, observing out to about 10 path-widths either side of the predicted track remains worthwhile.
We therefore recommend that you monitor for events if your observing location is up to +/- 10 path-widths from the predicted track. If not monitoring for occultations by secondary bodies you should observe from locations within 3 sigma of the nominal path.
In terms of time, the predictions are now usually accurate to about +/- 0.3 minute so you should be most attentive during the predicted minute of the event. However if intending to catch a potential satellite occultation you should start observing at least 10 times the predicted central duration before the predicted closest approach time for your location, and continue for a similar period afterwards.
Centre Star Star Sun Path Limits Error Limits
E. Longitude Latitude U.T. Alt Az Alt Limit 1 Limit 2 Limit 3 Limit 4
o ' " o ' " h m s o o o o ' " o ' " o ' " o ' "
Longitude Longitude Longitude Longitude
176 34 45 -44 0 0 9 42 23 16 342 -17 175 57 17 177 12 5 175 7 37 178 1 10
175 43 24 -43 0 0 9 42 4 17 343 -18 175 6 24 176 20 15 174 17 21 177 8 41
174 52 11 -42 0 0 9 41 43 18 343 -18 174 15 37 175 28 35 173 27 8 176 16 26
174 1 2 -41 0 0 9 41 22 19 344 -18 173 24 53 174 37 3 172 36 55 175 24 21
173 9 56 -40 0 0 9 40 58 21 345 -19 172 34 8 173 45 34 171 46 38 174 32 23
172 18 48 -39 0 0 9 40 33 22 346 -19 171 43 20 172 54 6 170 56 15 173 40 28
171 27 34 -38 0 0 9 40 7 23 347 -19 170 52 24 172 2 35 170 5 41 172 48 33
170 36 13 -37 0 0 9 39 39 24 347 -19 170 1 17 171 10 57 169 14 54 171 56 34
169 44 39 -36 0 0 9 39 10 25 348 -19 169 9 57 170 19 10 168 23 50 171 4 28
168 52 49 -35 0 0 9 38 39 26 349 -19 168 18 18 169 27 9 167 32 26 170 12 11
168 0 40 -34 0 0 9 38 6 27 350 -19 167 26 18 168 34 51 166 40 37 169 19 40
167 8 8 -33 0 0 9 37 32 29 351 -19 166 33 53 167 42 11 165 48 19 168 26 50
166 15 8 -32 0 0 9 36 56 30 352 -19 165 40 57 166 49 6 164 55 29 167 33 37
165 21 37 -31 0 0 9 36 18 31 353 -19 164 47 28 165 55 32 164 2 2 166 39 58
164 27 28 -30 0 0 9 35 39 32 354 -19 163 53 20 165 1 23 163 7 52 165 45 47
163 32 39 -29 0 0 9 34 58 33 355 -18 162 58 28 164 6 35 162 12 56 164 51 0
162 37 2 -28 0 0 9 34 15 34 356 -18 162 2 46 163 11 2 161 17 6 163 55 32
161 40 33 -27 0 0 9 33 30 35 357 -18 161 6 9 162 14 40 160 20 17 162 59 18
160 43 5 -26 0 0 9 32 44 36 358 -17 160 8 30 161 17 22 159 22 22 162 2 11
159 44 30 -25 0 0 9 31 55 37 360 -17 159 9 41 160 19 0 158 23 13 161 4 5
158 44 42 -24 0 0 9 31 5 38 1 -17 158 9 36 159 19 28 157 22 42 160 4 52
157 43 32 -23 0 0 9 30 12 39 2 -16 157 8 4 158 18 37 156 20 40 159 4 26
156 40 49 -22 0 0 9 29 17 40 4 -15 156 4 55 157 16 19 155 16 55 158 2 36
155 36 23 -21 0 0 9 28 20 41 6 -15 154 59 59 156 12 22 154 11 15 156 59 14
154 30 1 -20 0 0 9 27 21 42 7 -14 153 53 1 155 6 34 153 3 25 155 54 8
153 21 30 -19 0 0 9 26 19 42 9 -13 152 43 47 153 58 42 151 53 10 154 47 4
152 10 31 -18 0 0 9 25 14 43 11 -13 151 31 58 152 48 30 150 40 10 153 37 50
150 56 45 -17 0 0 9 24 6 44 13 -12 150 17 13 151 35 39 149 24 0 152 26 6
149 39 48 -16 0 0 9 22 56 45 15 -11 148 59 6 150 19 47 148 4 13 151 11 33
148 19 10 -15 0 0 9 21 42 45 17 -10 147 37 5 149 0 26 146 40 12 149 53 47
146 54 15 -14 0 0 9 20 24 45 20 -8 146 10 30 147 37 5 145 11 12 148 32 17
145 24 18 -13 0 0 9 19 2 46 22 -7 144 38 31 146 8 59 143 36 15 147 6 26
143 48 18 -12 0 0 9 17 35 46 25 -6 143 0 0 144 35 17 141 54 0 145 35 27
Use these links for further information:
[Planetary Occultations]
[Using the Predictions]
[Observing Details]
[Timing Details]
[Reporting Details]
[Report Form]
[Asteroid Occultation Results]
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