noswonky
13-04-2024, 12:51 PM
Tonight (Saturday April 13th) there will be an occultation of a magnitude 12.9 star by the asteroid (216) Kleopatra. It will be visible along the eastern areas of NSW, Victoria, South East Queensland, and parts of Tasmania.
Note that, because the asteroid is about the same brightness as the star, it will not be a full disappearance. The two objects will merge and appear as a single "star" and then it will dim by about 0.5 magnitudes when the star is covered and only the asteroid is visible. The dimming will last up to 15 seconds depending on the location of the observer.
This event is interesting because Kleopatra is a very odd shape - elongated with bulges on each end. Hence the nickname - the "Dog Bone".
The shadow of the asteroid will cross the Earth between 10:34 and 10:56 UTC (20:34 to 20:56 AEST). The predicted time of the event at my location (just west of Sydney) is 20:41 EST.
Some info about the asteroid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/216_Kleopatra
Details of the event:
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1198-216-129357-648120-U045563
and
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1198-216-129357-648120-U045563/Horizons;GaiaEDR3;1528689
The second link will show a zoomable map of the shadow path so you can check whether it will be visible from your location.
I also plan to live stream the event (and another one by asteroid Ara 10 minutes later) from my observatory in the Blue Mountains. Link to live stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LpNDB7gTpo
The weather forecast doesn't look too good in my area, but it's not 100% cloud so we might get lucky.
Note that, because the asteroid is about the same brightness as the star, it will not be a full disappearance. The two objects will merge and appear as a single "star" and then it will dim by about 0.5 magnitudes when the star is covered and only the asteroid is visible. The dimming will last up to 15 seconds depending on the location of the observer.
This event is interesting because Kleopatra is a very odd shape - elongated with bulges on each end. Hence the nickname - the "Dog Bone".
The shadow of the asteroid will cross the Earth between 10:34 and 10:56 UTC (20:34 to 20:56 AEST). The predicted time of the event at my location (just west of Sydney) is 20:41 EST.
Some info about the asteroid:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/216_Kleopatra
Details of the event:
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1198-216-129357-648120-U045563
and
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1198-216-129357-648120-U045563/Horizons;GaiaEDR3;1528689
The second link will show a zoomable map of the shadow path so you can check whether it will be visible from your location.
I also plan to live stream the event (and another one by asteroid Ara 10 minutes later) from my observatory in the Blue Mountains. Link to live stream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LpNDB7gTpo
The weather forecast doesn't look too good in my area, but it's not 100% cloud so we might get lucky.