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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1416      1999 Jun 08 20.20UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                    http://www.demon.co.uk/astronomer
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OCCULTATION ALERT: 451 PATIENTA
Richard Miles e-mails:
It has been a comparatively long time since the last favourable UK
occultation alert was issued. We now have a good event due a few
minutes before midnight this Thursday night. Provided your
south-easterly horizon is fairly unobstructed, then anyone in the
UK and northern Europe could witness this long-duration event.  Use
a red filter if you plan to observe this visually. A further
last-minute update may be available closer to the due time.
Details of the event are as follows:

This large asteroid, some 230 km across, is predicted to occult the
star, PPM 733949 (V=10.3) close to midnight on Thursday night.
Details are as follows:

Location of star:
RA: 18h 23m 15s Dec -23deg 44'52" (2000)

Observational coverage should span the period 23:52-00:04 UT, with
the expected mid-time (from the UK) = 23:58 UT
Event Rating: Favourable - due to the large size of the asteroid.
The maximum duration of the event is expected to be about 19 secs.
The star will dip in brightness by only about 1.4 magnitudes (i.e.
by a factor of about only 4) and so will need to be watched
carefully.  Since the star is much redder in colour than the
asteroid, visual observers should employ a red filter to accentuate
the brightness and make a possible occultation event more
noticeable.

Note that seen from the UK, the event takes place at quite a low
altitude above the horizon in the range, 8-14 deg, and an azimuth of
about 150 deg. The Moon will be set and so will not interfere
with observation.

Observers equipped with a telescope of 10 cm aperture or greater
may wish to monitor this very close appulse/occultation.  If the
track passes across the UK then, because of the low altitude and
the oblique viewing angle the width of the shadow track should
stretch across the entire country!

A finder chart can be found at:
http://sorry.vse.cz/~ludek/mp/1999/0610pat

Guy M Hurst