------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2184 2005 Dec 28 13.35UT 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 Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- OCCULTATION BY (20000) VARUNA OF 2UCAC 40675770 ON 2005 DEC 31 A number of contributors to 'PLANOCCULT' newsgroup have drawn attention to the possible occultation by Varuna on 2005 Dec 31 for which there is considerable uncertainty regarding the track. The star of magnitude 15.5 is located at: RA 07h 11m 06.804s DEC +25 09' 51.07" (2000) but there is also a brighter star of about magnitude 13 nearby so care will be needed over identification. The provisional expected time range is 06h14m to 06h20mUT and the magnitude duration 23.3seconds with a magnitude drop of 4.6 according to a chart by Jean Lecachuex. The large trans-Neptunian object (20000) Varuna (believed to be approximately 600km in size) and formerly 2000 WR106 will not be visible at a predicted magnitude of 20.1 so reliance is placed on detecting the disappearance of the star perhaps by CCD monitoring. This is a very difficult observation with some areas eastward from Ireland affected by nautical twilight but such rare events are always worth trying. Guy M Hurst