P20150629 Occultation June 29, 2015

(last updated 2015 06 29)

Finder Charts

Observing Notes

Star Hopping Instructions

 

Across the globe pictured above, the three solid lines correspond to the northern limit, centerline, and southern limit of Pluto's shadow. The northern and southern limits correspond to a radius of 1400 km. The upper and lower dashed lines indicate 3-sigma errors. The shaded area represents where the sun is more than 0 degrees below the horizon.
Table 1: Prediction Details
Pluto Geocentric Mid-time (yyyy month dd hh:mm:ss)

2015 June 29 16:55:35± 00:00:181 UT
Pluto Minimum Geocentric Separation 0.169± 0.0241 arcsec
Position Angle (Pluto relative to the star; measured north through east) +170.333 degrees
Geocentric Velocity 23.84 km/sec
Occultation Star UCAC2 magnitude 11.92
Measured magnitude (USNO frames) 12.22
Prediction version Pred20150629v2_Pluto+Star

1One standard deviation of random error.
2The UCAC bandpass (579-642nm) is between V and R.


Table 2: Reference Star Position
Reference star position:
(UCAC2, at epoch of event)		 RA (h:m:s; J2000) Dec (d:m:s; J2000) Notes
P20150629 Catalog 19 00 49.4887± 0.1370 –20 41 40.896± 0.290
P20150629 Measured3 19 00 49.4736± 0.0133 –20 41 40.825± 0.013
From USNO 61-inch, SARA-S, DCT, Lowell 42-inch frames
Table 3: Projected KBO Offsets from Reference Ephemeris at the Time of the Event
Body RA (arcsec) Dec (arcsec)  
Pluto

+0.0458± 0.0159

 –0.005± 0.016 See Notes 5 and 6

3Measured position corresponds to RA offset of –0.2115" and Dec. offset of +0.074''.

4All "offsets" are defined in the ("corrected" – "reference") or ("observed" – "calculated") sense. The offsets should be added to reference positions to get the measured positions, which we use to calculate the prediction.

4Data analyzed using UCAC2 reference network. A weighted average of the data from the two telescopes was used to calculate the RA and DEC. The errors given are 1 standard deviation.

5The reference positions for Pluto and Charon are those given by JPL Horizon's ephemeris (Pluto source file: PLU043; Earth center source file: DE431). Our residual model is based on the assumption that the same offsets in RA and Dec apply to both Pluto and Charon.

6Data from the USNO 61-inch, Lowell 42-inch telescope, SARA-South 24-inch telescope, and Lowell Astrograph telescopes over the span of 6 years were reduced with respect to stars in the UCAC2 catalog. A model was developed to fit the residuals obtained from our measured positions compared to that of the object's JPL ephemeris. All residuals obtained from the different telescopes were consistent with the model. The model includes the first-order effects of errors in the orbital elements of Pluto: (i) constant offsets in RA and Dec, (ii) linear (in time) offsets in RA and Dec. The model was propagated to obtain the predicted position and error of the Pluto at the time of the occultation. The errors listed for the Pluto are the RMS of the models fitted.

 

Table 4: Site Information

Site
East Longitude
Latitude

Site Altitude6

(km)

Pluto Distance7

(km)

Velocity

(km/s)
Auckland
174 46 49
–36 50 56
0.8
531 N.
23.98
Cairns
145 46 15
–16 55 15
0.
3485 N.
24.19
Hobart
147 19 32
–42 52 58
0.04
861 N.
24.10
McMurdo Station
166 40 51
–77 50 39
0.
1727 S.
23.89
Melbourne
144 55 23
–37 49 43
0.0
1394 N.
24.13
Mt. John
170 27 50
–43 59 22
1.04
93 N.
23.99
Sydney
151 12 26
–33 52 05
0.
1588 N.
24.11
Geocenter
----------
---------
center of Earth
3899 N.
23.84

6Altitude of each observatory is measured in kilometers above sea level.

7"Distance" refers to the closest approach distance of the "Site" to the center of Pluto's shadow in the shadow plane. The errors on all closest approach distances are ±549 km (one standard deviation). "S." means the site is south of the center of Pluto's shadow. "N." means the site is north of the center of Pluto's shadow.

Table 5: P20150629 Occultation Predictions for Individual Sites

Site
Pluto
Immersion (UT)9
Pluto
Mid-Time (UT)

Pluto
Emersion (UT)9
Pluto Altitude
Solar
Altitude9
Auckland
16:51:57
16:52:51
16:53:45
36
-----------
Cairns
-----------
16:53:24
-----------
60
-----------
Hobart
16:53:22
16:54:08
16:54:54
55
-----------
McMurdo Station
-----------
16:55:29
-----------
28
-----------
Melbourne
16:53:59
16:54:04
16:54:10
59
-----------
Mt. John
16:52:22
16:53:20
16:54:18
39
-----------
Sydney
-----------
16:53:37
-----------
56
-----------
Geocenter
-----------
16:55:35
-----------
-----------
-----------

 

9The errors on all times are ±0:18 (18 seconds; one standard deviation). The solar altitude is given for locations where it is relevant (solar altitude greater than -18°). No entry in the immersion and emersion columns indicates that the occultation is not predicted to be visible at that site.

 

Last updated by Carlos Zuluaga (czuluaga@mit.edu) 2015-06-29 07:48

Please direct all inquiries to PAL (planetary-astronomy@mit.edu)

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