Occultation of P495.3

On July 31, 2007, the star P495.3 will occult Pluto. The following prediction results from the analysis of 24 strip scans obtained at the Lowell Observatory Astrograph by MIT observers during 2005 and 2006, compared with an offset to the light-time corrected, geocentric JPL Horizon's ephemeris (System DE413 - Pluto source file; PLU013; Earth center source file; DE405) determined by comparing the Pluto system barycenter to the measured barycenter from the strips. The offsets between the measured RA and Dec of P495.3, 2UCAC 25815762, and its UCAC2 values are also given in the table.

Reference star position: (UCAC2, at epoch of event)	RA (J2000)	Dec (J2000)	UCAC Mag
P495.3	17 45 41.9791	-16 29 31.655	13.3
Offsets from Reference Position/Ephemeris
Body	RA (arcsec)	Dec (arcsec)	Notes
P495.3	+0.090± 0.007	+0.008± 0.007	From 24strip scans
Pluto System Barycenter	0 ±	0 ±
Pluto	0 ±	0 ±	From PLU013

	P495.3 Prediction (as of: 2007 02 16)
Geocentric Mid-time (yyyy mm dd hh:mm:ss)	2007 Jul 31 13:49:51.08 UT
Minimum Geocentric Separation (arcsec)	0.287± 0.007
Position Angle (deg; Pluto relative to the star)	167.92
Geocentric Velocity (km/s)	16.7
Prediction Version	P495.3-AST-1.3

Prediction Notes

The separation between the center line and each of the limb lines is an estimated Pluto radius of 1400 km for a flux drop of 6% for a partial occultation by the atmosphere.
The UCAC bandpass (579-642nm) is between V and R.

Please direct all inquiries to Planetary Astronomy Lab (planetary-astronomy@mit.edu)

Last updated by Carlos A Zuluaga(czuluaga@mit.edu) 2006-10-04 11:07

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