[meteorite-list] OT: Neat asteroid stuff!!

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:29:59 2004
Message-ID: <20030924101239.88421.qmail_at_web80507.mail.yahoo.com>

Regarding: [meteorite-list] Neat asteroid stuff!!

More "neat stuff" here:

http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/asteroids/astrndx.htm

--------------------------------------

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/article_870_1.asp

Planetary Occultations for 2003
By David W. Dunham

  
Watching a star field and seeing one of the stars
suddenly vanish, only to reappear several seconds
later, is a startling sight that one never forgets.
Occultations by dim asteroids are rarer than the lunar
events described in the article "Lunar Occultation
Highlights for 2003", since these interlopers have a
much smaller angular size than the Moon and they move
more slowly across the sky. It doesn’t matter if the
asteroid is too faint to see — you just need to be
able to see the star. Several of the stars occulted by
asteroids this year are bright enough for easy viewing
in binoculars.
Amateur astronomers at many separate locations using
simple timing methods can garner fundamental new data
about the size, shape, and atmosphere (if any) of the
occulting body. That’s why the International
Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) seeks these
observations. It is true that large telescopes
equipped with adaptive optics can reveal amazing
asteroid shapes and duplicity, but enthusiastic
amateurs can obtain much the same information by
observing occultations. The key is coordination — it
takes more than three or four “chords” to trace an
irregular asteroid’s profile.

The maps and tables in this article describe many
occultations taking place in 2003, with emphasis on
those visible from populous areas of North America,
Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Only the best
events can be covered here, but many more are
accessible with most telescopes. I encourage you to
visit the Web sites mentioned later in this article to
learn of other events visible from your area.

<http://skyandtelescope.com/mm_images/4551.jpg>
[David Dunham’s maps on the above page shows most
asteroid occultation paths predicted to cross
well-populated parts of North America, Europe, eastern
Australia, and New Zealand in 2003. Bright events are
shown for other areas on this large world map (click
on the image to see the complete chart). The path
locations are uncertain generally by a few path
widths. Sky & Telescope illustration.]

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Received on Wed 24 Sep 2003 06:12:39 AM PDT