Occultation event with (5254) Ulysses, event index number 3314
Regions able to see the event: Europe
Geocentric closest approach at 2026/02/26 03:34:15 UTC
J2000 position of star is 12:43:46.2 +26:48:26
Equinox of date position of star is 12:45:03.2 +26:39:52
Star is 87 degrees from the moon. Moon is 68% illuminated.
Stellar brightness G=11.6, apparent brightess of occulting body is G=14.4
Use an exposure time of 0.12 seconds with the standard RECON-QHY system.
SNR of 26.5 per integration for unocculted signal
Expected flux drop is 93% with SNR of 24.7 for the occulted depth (per occulted point)
Apparent velocity is 16.1 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 17.5 arcsec/hr.
Position angle of asteroid motion is 131.3 degrees
The recommended exposure time corresponds to 1.9 km per image.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 2.4 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 11.6 km.
The sky-plane scale is 3306.6 km/arcsec.
Diameter estimates:
87.5 km assuming a 5% albedo, maximum of 5.4 sec for a central chord
35.7 km assuming a 30% albedo, maximum of 2.2 sec for a central chord
Cross-track diameter of 76.1 km used for deployment plan.
Star training set for 5254_Ulysses, (2026/02/26 03:34UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Arcturus 14:16:51.4 +19:02:52 0.0 22.44 109 Vindemiatrix 13:03:28.7 +10:49:09 2.8 16.43 99 30 Com 12:50:33.7 +27:24:37 5.8 1.44 88 PPM 102123 12:46:20.2 +27:15:02 8.5 0.65 87 PPM 102107 12:44:35.9 +26:16:36 9.9 0.40 87 PPM 102100 12:44:11.4 +26:25:46 11.7 0.30 87 5254_Ulysses 12:45:03.2 +26:39:52 14.4 87 Positions are for equinox of date
Star training set for 5254_Ulysses, (2026/02/26 03:34UT) Object RA Dec mag sep mel Arcturus 14:15:37.7 +19:10:06 0.0 22.44 109 Vindemiatrix 13:02:10.1 +10:57:33 2.8 16.43 99 30 Com 12:49:17.2 +27:33:08 5.8 1.44 88 PPM 102123 12:45:03.3 +27:23:36 8.5 0.65 87 PPM 102107 12:43:18.7 +26:25:11 9.9 0.40 87 PPM 102100 12:42:54.3 +26:34:21 11.7 0.30 87 5254_Ulysses 12:43:46.2 +26:48:26 14.4 87 Positions are for J2000