RECON: TNO occultation with 04VK78

Event between 04VK78 and star GA1120:00861970 with event index number of 1079805

Geocentric closest approach at 2021/12/24 14:59:19 UTC

J2000 position of star is 04:56:31.0 +22:51:28
Equinox of date position of star is 04:57:50.3 +22:53:27
Stellar brightness G=16.7, use SENSEUP=128 with the MallinCam and and exposure time of 2 seconds with the QHY174 camera.
Star is 78 degrees from the moon. Moon is 75% illuminated.
TNO apparent brightness V=23.5

TNO is 35.9 AU from the Sun and 35.0 AU from the Earth.
The TNO is moving 23.5 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 3.3 arcsec/hr.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 181 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 1768 km.

The TNO has an absolute magnitude Hv=7.9
Diameter=161.4 km assuming a 5% albedo -- 6.9 sec chord
Diameter=65.9 km assuming a 30% albedo -- 2.8 sec chord
Dynamical classification is 2:1E
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Star training set for 04VK78, (2021/12/24 14:59UT)
Object            RA         Dec     mag  sep  mel
Aldebaran      04:37:11.1 +16:33:06  0.8  7.99  84
Alnath         05:27:41.0 +28:37:26  1.6  8.83  71
102Iot Tau     05:04:24.7 +21:37:10  4.6  1.98  77
PPM 093901     04:57:26.0 +22:36:34  8.5  0.30  78
04VK78         04:57:50.5 +22:53:27 16.7        78
Positions are for equinox of date

Azimuth is measured in degrees eastward from north. North is at an azimuth of 0, due East is at an azimuth of 90 degrees, due South is 180, and due West is 270.

Do not use the listing below for the RECON CPC 1100 telescopes. This is provided for other non-team facilities.

Star training set for 04VK78, (2021/12/24 14:59UT)
Object            RA         Dec     mag  sep  mel
Aldebaran      04:35:55.3 +16:30:29  0.8  7.99  84
Alnath         05:26:17.5 +28:36:23  1.6  8.83  71
102Iot Tau     05:03:05.8 +21:35:23  4.6  1.98  77
PPM 093901     04:56:06.7 +22:34:34  8.5  0.30  78
04VK78         04:56:31.0 +22:51:28 16.7        78
Positions are for J2000

Event circumstances last updated at 2021/12/03 01:43:00 UT

Marc W. Buie, Southwest Research Institute

RECON