Occultation event with (3451) Mentor, event index number 4420
Regions able to see the event: Europe
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/10/17 01:59:46 UTC
J2000 position of star is 07:06:42.7 -02:49:55
Equinox of date position of star is 07:08:03.4 -02:52:31
Star is 149 degrees from the moon. Moon is 35% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=16.3, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=14.3
Use an exposure time of 2.00 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 4.3 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 13% with SNR of 0.6 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 14.1 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 13.1 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 148.2 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 28.2 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 2.2 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 20.2 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3859.3 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
122.5 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 8.7 sec for a central chord
50.0 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 3.5 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 126.3 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 3451_Mentor, (2026/10/17 02:00UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Sirius 06:46:19.7 -16:45:15 -1.5 14.87 136 2Bet CMa 06:23:52.8 -17:58:16 2.0 18.58 135 20 Mon 07:11:33.5 -04:16:52 4.9 1.66 147 PPM 189924 07:08:11.1 -02:47:29 8.5 0.09 149 3451_Mentor 07:08:03.4 -02:52:31 14.3 148 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 3451_Mentor, (2026/10/17 02:00UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Sirius 06:45:07.9 -16:43:29 -1.5 14.87 136 2Bet CMa 06:22:42.0 -17:57:21 2.0 18.58 135 20 Mon 07:10:13.7 -04:14:08 4.9 1.66 147 PPM 189924 07:06:50.4 -02:44:53 8.5 0.09 149 3451_Mentor 07:06:42.7 -02:49:55 14.3 149 Positions are for J2000