23 March - Occ. of binary asteroid Kalliope (Greece–Irelan

The binary asteroid (22) Kalliope will occult a star in Coma Berenices.
www.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/o...&date=2008-03-23
Occultation of the star by 180km diameter Kalliope will be visible in Greece and occultation of the star by the 40km diameter Kalliope’s satellite Linus will be visible in Ireland.
Anybody interested in a combined observation? This observation is not only fun, but also it has scientific value. Occultation data could help the scientific community.


At 2008-03-23, Time 02:31:24 UTC Kalliope will occult star UCAC2 36651435.

Some facts:
1. Combined (asteroid and sat) mag is 10.9 - Star mag is 12.4 So the target object brightness is ~10.9
2. Magnitude drop during the 13.5 sec occultation is expected to be only 0.2 mag. So visual observation of the occultation is not possible. CCD observations is what we need. Produce a photometric curve and analyze it.
3. IMCE (Institude de Mecanique Celeste) prediction:
www.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/o...&date=2008-03-23
4. Steve Preston prediction does refer to Kalliope occultation, but does not refer to the satellite occultation:
www.asteroidoccultations.com/2008_03/0323_22_17101.htm
5. (22) Kalliope and Linus
www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/astmoons/am-00022.html
6. Paths: In Ireland, the center of the path of Linus passes over the Armagh Observatory. Astronomer Apostolos Christou of Armagh, is in fact the person who gave me the information of this event. www.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/o...008-03-23/toc.d2.gif
7. In Starry Night the star is referred as USNO J1253289 133329 - but it will be unnecessary to find the star with the telescope; the asteroid at mag 10.9 is our target!
8. Disadvantage: The star and Kalliope are quite near a nearly full moon at the time of the occultation (25 degrees).

Clear Skies

btw,
I am very glad that some of you (Mike, albertw, eansbro, and maybe more) have met Tolis Christou.
He is the link between greek and irish astronomy

Hi Vagelis

Yes, I had the good fortune of meeting Tolis in person at Armagh observatory. A great guy that took time out from his busy schedule to show us his work and meteor detection system and methods, he is very knowledgeable and intelligent person.

I think Vagelis you are too modest, you are also an excellent link between Greek and Irish astronomy and astronomers, it is really good that you take the time out to contribute to this forum and for posting excellent information and ideas, I have learned from your contributions.

Regarding the upcoming occultation, I’ll contribute as best as I can so let’s do it. I’ll post results either way of success or failure and would urge as many other amateur astronomers to undertake recording of this event with any means at their disposal!

Clear skies
Mike

Mike,
Thank you for the good words, I believe that if one shares something (anything and everything), enjoyes it better.
Yes, I agree with everything you said about Tolis.

Clear skies ... and collimated optics!

Kalliope clouded out - no observation - any luck here?

Hi Vagelis

Similar predicament, clouded out from my location. It has been pretty much overcast over the weekend in fact with some bleak weather. Perhaps some of the other astronomers on the forum have had better luck from their locations.
Many thanks for posting the information.

Clear skies (hopefully)
Mike