Occultation event with (5120) Bitias, event index number 5157
Regions able to see the event: Australia
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/12/10 11:04:34 UTC
J2000 position of star is 04:24:42.5 +43:24:59
Equinox of date position of star is 04:26:36.6 +43:28:35
Star is 152 degrees from the moon. Moon is 2% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=15.0, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=15.5
Use an exposure time of 0.60 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 7.4 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 60% with SNR of 4.5 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 18.8 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 20.8 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 64.0 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 11.3 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 0.7 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 36.0 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3242.3 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
50.8 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 2.7 sec for a central chord
20.8 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 1.1 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 48.0 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 5120_Bitias, (2026/12/10 11:05UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Aldebaran 04:37:28.2 +16:33:41 0.8 27.01 154 3Iot Aur 04:58:45.2 +33:12:22 2.7 12.04 162 PPM 046963 04:20:00.5 +42:12:17 6.1 1.76 151 PPM 047025 04:24:31.4 +43:30:38 7.7 0.38 152 PPM 047044 04:26:21.8 +43:39:32 9.7 0.19 152 5120_Bitias 04:26:36.6 +43:28:35 15.5 152 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 5120_Bitias, (2026/12/10 11:05UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Aldebaran 04:35:55.4 +16:30:29 0.8 27.01 154 3Iot Aur 04:56:59.6 +33:09:57 2.7 12.04 162 PPM 046963 04:18:08.2 +42:08:27 6.1 1.76 151 PPM 047025 04:22:37.4 +43:26:57 7.7 0.38 152 PPM 047044 04:24:27.5 +43:35:55 9.7 0.19 152 5120_Bitias 04:24:42.5 +43:24:59 15.5 152 Positions are for J2000