Occultation event with (3596) Meriones, event index number 3707
Regions able to see the event: SAmericaN
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/05/01 22:38:44 UTC
J2000 position of star is 12:24:25.5 -13:30:22
Equinox of date position of star is 12:25:47.4 -13:39:06
Star is 33 degrees from the moon. Moon is 100% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=16.5, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=14.5
Use an exposure time of 1.50 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 3.2 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 14% with SNR of 0.4 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 14.5 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 15.8 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 104.4 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 21.7 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 2.1 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 16.7 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3306.0 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
84.3 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 5.8 sec for a central chord
34.4 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 2.4 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 87.4 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 3596_Meriones, (2026/05/01 22:39UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Spica 13:26:35.0 -11:17:53 1.0 15.02 20 4Gam Crv 12:17:09.9 -17:41:17 2.6 4.54 34 PPM 225705 12:22:17.5 -13:42:41 5.1 0.85 34 PPM 225719 12:22:44.6 -12:55:36 8.4 1.04 34 PPM 225793 12:26:09.7 -13:39:12 9.7 0.09 33 3596_Meriones 12:25:47.4 -13:39:06 14.5 33 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 3596_Meriones, (2026/05/01 22:39UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Spica 13:25:11.5 -11:09:41 1.0 15.02 20 4Gam Crv 12:15:48.1 -17:32:30 2.6 4.54 34 PPM 225705 12:20:55.7 -13:33:56 5.1 0.85 34 PPM 225719 12:21:22.9 -12:46:51 8.4 1.04 34 PPM 225793 12:24:47.7 -13:30:27 9.7 0.09 33 3596_Meriones 12:24:25.5 -13:30:22 14.5 33 Positions are for J2000