Occultation of Antares

[N1 (Mirko)]

Here is some imagery of Friday morning's occultation of Antares by the Moon. A prime-focus real-time video and two image stacks taken from it to make the composite below showing Antares' component stars as they re-appeared several seconds apart. Note the gradual return of A's light (this was very noticeable visually as well). It's not just a dot.

Captured with a Telementor & GH5

[astronobob (Bob)]

Nice bit of work Mirko,

The timing and location is quite the prerequisite for capturing such events.
Ol mate in our club used to do these asteroid occultations yrs ago with a very accurate time-stamp on the video.
Some astro-science organization would use his data for orbital measurements and assist in measuring the asteroids size.
Quite an interesting field for some,,,

Good catch with the reappearance, one blink and you miss it !!

[N1 (Mirko)]

Thanks Bob,

Our club has a division doing just that, and I participate/contribute occasionally. One of our most memorable observations has to be an occultation by Pluto of a bright-ish (12th mag IIRC) star in 2015 just before the New Horizons flyby, complete with a central flash caused by Pluto's atmosphere. It's enjoyable despite the high rate of 'non-observations' and essentially recording dots of light, and does improve understanding of a given object's properties.

[kvmx (Nick)]

What's the blue device mounted on the dob? Is that something to measure the altitude angle?

[N1 (Mirko)]

Yes, it's a basic inclinometer with magnetic base from the hardware, folded down in the picture as not needed to find bright objects. Accurate to within a degree, which is good enough for most targets & situations. I'm planning to put a printed Az setting cricle on the base too.

[RichardJ (Richard)]

Hi Mirko,

Lovely capture. I saw the reappearance visually through my 15cm Dob.
Lovely to see both components appear one after the other. Very cool.

Richard.