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Updated: 2008 MAR 31, 03:42 UT
Event Rank : 16
(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 2008 May 02 UT, the 12 km diameter asteroid (1922) Zulu will occult a 7.2 mag star in the constellation Aquila for observers along a narrow path beginning over Tasmania passing near Queensland and Devonport. Then into Victoria passing near Moe and Sale, and New South Wales passing between Wagga Wagga and Canberra, then near Orange and Narrabri. The path then passes east of Brisbane before ending near Bundaberg.
In the case of an occultation, the combined light of the asteroid and the star will drop by 8.1 mag to 15.3 mag (the magnitude of the asteroid) for at most 0.5 seconds.
This update is based on UNSO/Flagstaff astrometry for the asteroid kindly provided by Alice Monet, historical astrometry from the MPC files (via AstDys), and the following catalogs for the star position: .
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
139 34 2 -55 0 0 19 32 57 22 7 -22 139 40 25 139 27 39 140 34 31 138 33 33
140 4 21 -54 0 0 19 32 59 23 6 -22 140 10 35 139 58 8 141 3 23 139 5 20
140 34 1 -53 0 0 19 33 1 24 6 -22 140 40 5 140 27 56 141 31 41 139 36 22
141 3 4 -52 0 0 19 33 3 25 5 -21 141 9 1 140 57 7 141 59 28 140 6 42
141 31 35 -51 0 0 19 33 5 26 5 -21 141 37 24 141 25 46 142 26 47 140 36 26
141 59 36 -50 0 0 19 33 7 27 4 -21 142 5 18 141 53 54 142 53 40 141 5 36
142 27 11 -49 0 0 19 33 9 28 4 -21 142 32 47 142 21 36 143 20 11 141 34 15
142 54 22 -48 0 0 19 33 12 29 3 -20 142 59 51 142 48 54 143 46 22 142 2 27
143 21 12 -47 0 0 19 33 14 30 3 -20 143 26 35 143 15 49 144 12 15 142 30 13
143 47 43 -46 0 0 19 33 16 31 2 -20 143 53 0 143 42 25 144 37 51 142 57 38
144 13 56 -45 0 0 19 33 19 32 2 -19 144 19 8 144 8 44 145 3 14 143 24 42
144 39 54 -44 0 0 19 33 22 33 1 -19 144 45 1 144 34 47 145 28 24 143 51 28
145 5 39 -43 0 0 19 33 24 34 1 -18 145 10 40 145 0 37 145 53 23 144 17 58
145 31 11 -42 0 0 19 33 27 35 0 -18 145 36 9 145 26 14 146 18 13 144 44 14
145 56 34 -41 0 0 19 33 30 36 360 -18 146 1 27 145 51 41 146 42 55 145 10 18
146 21 48 -40 0 0 19 33 33 37 359 -17 146 26 37 146 16 59 147 7 31 145 36 10
146 46 54 -39 0 0 19 33 36 38 359 -17 146 51 40 146 42 9 147 32 1 146 1 53
147 11 55 -38 0 0 19 33 39 39 358 -16 147 16 37 147 7 13 147 56 27 146 27 28
147 36 51 -37 0 0 19 33 42 40 358 -16 147 41 29 147 32 13 148 20 50 146 52 57
148 1 43 -36 0 0 19 33 45 41 357 -15 148 6 18 147 57 8 148 45 12 147 18 20
148 26 33 -35 0 0 19 33 48 42 357 -15 148 31 5 148 22 1 149 9 33 147 43 39
148 51 22 -34 0 0 19 33 51 43 356 -14 148 55 51 148 46 53 149 33 55 148 8 55
149 16 11 -33 0 0 19 33 55 44 355 -14 149 20 37 149 11 45 149 58 18 148 34 10
149 41 1 -32 0 0 19 33 58 45 355 -13 149 45 24 149 36 37 150 22 43 148 59 24
150 5 52 -31 0 0 19 34 2 46 354 -13 150 10 14 150 1 31 150 47 12 149 24 39
150 30 47 -30 0 0 19 34 5 46 353 -12 150 35 6 150 26 28 151 11 46 149 49 55
150 55 46 -29 0 0 19 34 9 47 352 -12 151 0 3 150 51 29 151 36 24 150 15 14
151 20 50 -28 0 0 19 34 13 48 352 -11 151 25 5 151 16 35 152 1 9 150 40 37
151 46 0 -27 0 0 19 34 16 49 351 -10 151 50 13 151 41 47 152 26 2 151 6 5
152 11 16 -26 0 0 19 34 20 50 350 -10 152 15 28 152 7 5 152 51 2 151 31 38
152 36 41 -25 0 0 19 34 24 51 349 -9 152 40 51 152 32 32 153 16 11 151 57 18
153 2 15 -24 0 0 19 34 28 52 348 -9 153 6 23 152 58 7 153 41 31 152 23 6
153 27 58 -23 0 0 19 34 32 53 347 -8 153 32 5 153 23 52 154 7 2 152 49 2
153 53 53 -22 0 0 19 34 36 54 346 -7 153 57 58 153 49 47 154 32 44 153 15 8
154 19 59 -21 0 0 19 34 40 55 345 -7 154 24 3 154 15 54 154 58 40 153 41 26
154 46 18 -20 0 0 19 34 44 55 344 -6 154 50 21 154 42 14 155 24 49 154 7 54
155 12 51 -19 0 0 19 34 48 56 343 -5 155 16 53 155 8 48 155 51 13 154 34 36
155 39 38 -18 0 0 19 34 53 57 342 -5 155 43 40 155 35 37 156 17 54 155 1 31
156 6 42 -17 0 0 19 34 57 58 340 -4 156 10 43 156 2 41 156 44 51 155 28 42
156 34 3 -16 0 0 19 35 1 59 339 -3 156 38 3 156 30 3 157 12 6 155 56 8
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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