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Old 05-10-2014, 09:18 PM
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Tinderboxsky (Steve)
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Luna Eclipse AND two grazing occultations In Tassie

We will have a double treat with two grazing occultations occurring during the Luna Eclipse in northern Tasmania.

The first will be a grazing occultation of the 11.1 mag star X57001 with the path cutting across the far NW of Tassie at approx 9.50pm.

The second will be for the 6.7 mag star 132 RG with the path starting on the West Coast, passing through the northern suburbs of Launceston at approximately 10.40 and then finishing in the far northeast. This one will occur just under 20 minutes after eclipse totality finishes, so the moon should still be quite dim and reddish.

This one interests me, so we are planning a trip north to see if I can observe my first grazing occultation. There are some ideal dark sky sites in farming country approx 2 klms west of Westbury where we will set up. The occultation is scheduled for 10.39.

Here hoping for clear skies!

Cheers

Steve.
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Old 09-10-2014, 08:05 PM
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Tinderboxsky (Steve)
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We had a very successful night with the full eclipse and a grazing occultation.

A group of us set up our equipment 2 klms west of Westbury on Deviation Road - a quite "country lane" giving us uninterrupted views with very dark skies. We were fortunate that the clouds cleared just on the commencement of totality and gave us a cloud free night from then on.

The eclipse was spectacular as everyone has commented. During the total eclipse the Milky Way was visible in all its splendor which added to the experience.

The spot we had chosen was right on the path for the grazing occultation of the 6.7 mag star 132 RG. So during the total eclipse we were treated to seeing the moon steadily approach this star. As they approached the colour contrast was quite beautiful with the yellowish star set against the reddish hues of the moon. The grazing occultation was set for approx 15 minutes after the end of eclipse totality and fortunately it was on the part of the limb still fully in the Earth's shadow.

The grazing occultation yielded 4 "off-on" blinks. This was my first successful grazing occultation observation. So, I came away quite pleased.

Cheers

Steve.
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Old 09-10-2014, 09:36 PM
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tonybarry (Tony)
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Well done Steve !

Sydney sported just about 100% cloud and a little rain out west in Penrith. We were hoping for two eclipse occultations but sadly got nothing for our efforts. So I am very pleased somebody got the prize.

Regards,
Tony Barry
WSAAG
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Old 11-10-2014, 08:32 AM
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DaveGee (Dave Gault)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky View Post
The grazing occultation yielded 4 "off-on" blinks. This was my first successful grazing occultation observation.
Congrats Steve. Did you time the blinks?

I been trying for an eclipse graze unsuccessfully for years.
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Old 11-10-2014, 09:25 AM
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Tinderboxsky (Steve)
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Hello Dave,

No timing of the blinks, just a visual experience for the four of us observing. The pattern of the blinks corresponded very closely with the RASNZ published Luna Limb Profile for the graze.

One certainly has to be very close to the published path to experience the blinking. Another group observing nearby - approx 6klms perpendicular from the path - watched the star "appear to touch" the limb of the moon but did not see any blinks.

I have browsed your website with interest in the past.

Cheers

Steve.
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Old 11-10-2014, 12:20 PM
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DaveGee (Dave Gault)
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Hi Steve,

Graze timings are very valuable. Should you wish information on how to get equipment to provide a precision Time Base for future observations, just visit my website (which you say you already have) and/or just ask.

Although time inserted video observations is state of the art nowadays, a keen team of visual observers can make highly worthwhile observations of lunar occultations and grazes, as well as asteroid occultation events.

I tool the liberty to have a look at the event circumstances based on your description. See images and .zip below. The .zip file contains a GoogleEarth.kmz file that has been adjusted for the 180m altitude of your site. Something the RASNZ info would not do. This is the old tanZ offset that had to be applied when paper maps were king. Nowadays with Occult4, a PC will crunch the numbers and provide a Kaguya Profile Prediction and link to GE with a couple of clicks.

Anyway, I wish I was there.
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  #7  
Old 11-10-2014, 01:09 PM
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Tinderboxsky (Steve)
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Hi Dave,

Thanks for the info - very interesting. I wondered what TanZ was referring to on the RASNZ data files.

I have added a further marker to show you where we were.

Cheers

Steve.
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