Occultation event with (3451) Mentor, event index number 5072
Regions able to see the event: Australia
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/12/06 14:34:50 UTC
J2000 position of star is 07:00:54.2 -05:49:12
Equinox of date position of star is 07:02:13.5 -05:51:35
Star is 114 degrees from the moon. Moon is 6% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=16.1, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=13.9
Use an exposure time of 2.00 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 4.6 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 11% with SNR of 0.5 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 14.7 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 15.4 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 72.4 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 29.3 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 0.8 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 35.7 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3436.9 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
122.5 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 8.4 sec for a central chord
50.0 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 3.4 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 126.3 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 3451_Mentor, (2026/12/06 14:35UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Sirius 06:46:20.1 -16:45:16 -1.5 11.57 112 2Bet CMa 06:23:53.2 -17:58:16 2.0 15.31 115 PPM 189831 07:03:15.7 -05:45:45 4.5 0.28 113 PPM 189800 07:01:40.3 -05:51:58 7.9 0.14 114 3451_Mentor 07:02:13.5 -05:51:35 13.9 113 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 3451_Mentor, (2026/12/06 14:35UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Sirius 06:45:07.9 -16:43:29 -1.5 11.57 112 2Bet CMa 06:22:42.0 -17:57:21 2.0 15.31 115 PPM 189831 07:01:56.3 -05:43:19 4.5 0.28 113 PPM 189800 07:00:21.1 -05:49:36 7.9 0.14 114 3451_Mentor 07:00:54.2 -05:49:12 13.9 114 Positions are for J2000