Occultation event with (5120) Bitias, event index number 4509
Regions able to see the event: SMexico
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/10/29 06:34:19 UTC
J2000 position of star is 04:51:58.1 +44:27:00
Equinox of date position of star is 04:53:54.2 +44:29:36
Star is 17 degrees from the moon. Moon is 87% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=16.6, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=15.7
Use an exposure time of 1.25 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 3.1 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 30% with SNR of 0.9 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 11.4 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 12.3 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 97.5 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 14.3 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 1.1 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 34.9 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3352.5 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
50.8 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 4.4 sec for a central chord
20.8 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 1.8 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 48.0 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 5120_Bitias, (2026/10/29 06:34UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Aldebaran 04:37:27.8 +16:33:40 0.8 28.15 13 3Iot Aur 04:58:44.7 +33:12:21 2.7 11.33 6 PPM 047482 04:56:47.1 +44:06:06 6.0 0.65 17 PPM 047459 04:55:44.7 +44:07:51 9.6 0.49 17 PPM 047423 04:53:17.8 +44:37:32 10.1 0.17 17 5120_Bitias 04:53:54.2 +44:29:36 15.7 17 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 5120_Bitias, (2026/10/29 06:34UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Aldebaran 04:35:55.4 +16:30:29 0.8 28.15 13 3Iot Aur 04:56:59.6 +33:09:57 2.7 11.33 6 PPM 047482 04:54:51.2 +44:03:38 6.0 0.65 17 PPM 047459 04:53:48.9 +44:05:20 9.6 0.49 17 PPM 047423 04:51:21.5 +44:34:55 10.1 0.17 17 5120_Bitias 04:51:58.1 +44:27:00 15.7 17 Positions are for J2000