The list shows occultations of possible double stars during September. 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 September 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.

********************************************************************************
 d P    Star  Mag    %         Double details        WDS or   Area of
Sep      No    v    ill      magnitudes sepn    PA°  OCC #    Visibility
 1 r     464* 6.1   67- : AB  6.1       0.50"  23.0  CHR   8  ,AkW
 1 r   93411  8.7   64- : **  9.3  9.3  0.10"   9.0  OCc 626  RBT
 2 r   93860  8.5   53- : **, 8.9 11.0  0.06" 244.0  OCc 938  RBTSCM
 3 R     769  6.5   44- : **  7.4  7.4  0.10"  82.0  OCc 636  ,AkWChI
 3 r   94406  9.5   43- : AB  7.4 12.5  5.8"    1.3  KIR   1  RBTSCM,AkWChI
   ***  94406 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247227231}
 3 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,I
 3 r X 73360  9.0   42- : AB  9.1  9.6  1.7"  252.6  STF 665  RBTSCM
      X73360:  B star is X  6728
 3 R     790# 6.8E  42- : AB  6.8  9.7 10.1"  149.1  STF 674  RBTSCM
   ***    790 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247253928}
          790:  B star is X 73515
 4 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    TSCM,AkW
 5 r X100160 10.7   21- : AB 11.4 11.6  0.40" 155.4  COU  88  RBT
 5 r X 10724  9.7   21- : ** 11.5 11.5  0.10" 177.0  OCc 816  ,AkWCh
 5 r   79321  9.1   20- : **  9.8  9.8  0.10"  90.0  OCc 279  M
 6 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RB,AkWCh
 6 r   80143  9.1   12- : AB  9.83 9.89 0.44" 351.7  HO  525° RBTSCM

11 D   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkChI
12 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
13 d X 38046 10.0   16+ : AB 10.5 11.5  0.8"  194.8  RST3880  BTSCM,ChI
14 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,Ak
15 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
15 d  159852  9.1   36+ : AB  9.2 10.6  1.2"  320.7  HU  311  M
16 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
16 d  160221  8.5   43+ : AB  8.5 12.7  5.6"  252.2  RST3059  ,I
16 D    2448* 6.3   44+ : **  7.2  7.2  0.10" 270.0  OCc  40  RBTSC
16 d X 41932  9.6   45+ : AB  9.8 11.3  1.9" 214.3   HU 1175  RB    
   *** X 41932 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 230792408}
17 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    BTSCM,AkWChI
17 d X146651# 9.1   54+ : AB  9.1 10.0  1.2"  298.9  A  2255  CM,AkWChI
      X146651:  B star ia X 43112
17 d  160938* 8.7   54+ : **  9.1  9.8  0.03" 325.0  OCc1021  ,AkWChI
17 d  160993  8.9   55+ : AB  8.9 10.9  1.1"   40.9  A  2387  ,I
18 D  187233  7.5   63+ : **  9.1  9.1  0.05" 350.0  OCc1550  RB,AkWChI
18 d X160315  9.2   63+ : AB  9.4 12.4  6.4"  161.2  I  1030  RBTSCM,AkW
18 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RB
18 D  187349* 6.8   64+ : **  8.3  8.3  0.05" 350.0  OCc1554  ,AkWChI
18 d  187358* 7.5   64+ : **  8.4  8.4  0.05" 350.0  OCc1555  ,AkWChI
18 d  187395* 8.9   64+ : **  9.7  9.7  0.07" 140.0  OCc1017  ,ChI
19 d  188563  8.3   74+ : AB  8.61 9.52 0.82" 246.0  BU  146° RBTSCM
20 d X174460  9.2   80+ e: AB 9.5 10.3  0.54" 112.5  HU  586  B,AkWChI
      X174460:  B star is 163578
22 D    3237* 4.3   93+ : **  5.2  5.2  0.05" 350.0  OCc1616  RBTSCM
22 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
22 d    3261  8.9   94+ : AB  8.9 12.1  0.8"  296.0  YSC  75  RBTSCM
   ***   3261 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 206064678}
23 d   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    BCM,AkWChI

27 R     303  6.4   94- : **  7.2  7.4  0.40" 115.0  OCc1174  ,WChI
27 r  110398  9.3   93- : **  9.1 10.1  0.20" 277.0  OCc1179  ,WChI
29 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkWChI
29 r X  5185  9.4   79- : **  9.2  9.2  0.08" 229.0  OCc 941  ,AkWChI
   *** X  5185 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 210586179}
30 r   *** Kepler Stars occulted, light curves are desired    RBTSCM,AkW
30 r   94222  9.4   68- : **  9.9  9.9  0.30" 100.0  OCc 433  RBTSC,Ak
   ***  94222 is in the Kepler2 program {ID = 247174923}
30 r   94264  9.6   68- : AB  9.7 12.4  0.60" 168.2  HDS 653  RBTSCM

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

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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