Joe Carr

 

 

Event Varsavia asteroid occults star HIP 68516 at approximately 11:03pm Pacific Daylight Time on July 17, 2003.  Further info about this event: Varsavia asteroid occultation.
Date/time
(Estimated)		 July 17, 2003 at 11:03pm Pacific Daylight Time (UT: July 18, 2003 06:03)
Observing location 3046 Jackson St, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Latitude: N 48° 26' 45.4"  Longitude: W 123° 21' 30.0"  Elevation: 43 metres ASL
Observer(s) Joe Carr at this location. Other RASC Victoria Centre members observed this event from other locations in the Victoria area:  Varsavia asteroid occultation.  The 1.8m Plaskett telescope at the DAO was also used to observe this event.  Post-processing and final submission of data was handled by University of Victoria Astronomy department staff.
Equipment
bulletMeade LX-90 Schmidt-Cassegrain 8" telescope, 12.4mm Plossl eyepiece.
bulletGarmin etrex handheld GPS
bulletSony MD Walkman Minidisc recorder, omni-directional microphone.
bulletNokia cellphone, Rogers AT&T cellular network, Wintel long distance network.
bulletNRC Talking Clock time signal service (613) 745-1576.
Methodology
  1. Setup LX-90 telescope and sight star HIP 68516.
  2. Start recording 3 minutes before predicted event, and make a continuous recording through whole event.
  3. Record basic identifying data - observer, location, event info.
  4. Call NRC Talking Clock time signal service in Ottawa using cellphone and record first synchronizing time signal.
  5. Record "gone" and "back" on tape to mark beginning and end of occultation event.
  6. Call NRC Talking Clock time signal service in Ottawa using cellphone and record second synchronizing time signal.
  7. End recording and transcribe into .WAV format digital file using a sound adapter in a desktop computer along with recording software.
  8. Post data file (WAV file) to website for post-processing by University of Victoria Astronomy staff.
Estimated occultation metrics Listening to the audio and using a stopwatch, I estimate the following metrics:
bulletDuration: 1.80 seconds
bulletOccultation beginning: 11:03:00.2 PDT July 17, 2003
bulletOccultation ending: 11:03:02.0 PDT July 17, 2003

These figures are the average of several timings taken from the audio track, with compensation for the small amount of timing drift beginning-to-end.
Observation data 6 minute WAV format audio file containing narration and NRC Time Signals both before and after event.  Warning - file is 31Mb in size! 2003.07.17OccultationJC.wav Hint: if you run MS Windows, right click on this link and "Save target as..."

Asteroid Varsavia - 1263 - final resultant data from all observations, as compiled by IOTA Northwest

Back to my Astronomical observations page, or back to my main Astronomy page.

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Revised: August 26, 2010

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