Observation by Tim Haymes: Asteroid (4954) Eric occults a star

Uploaded by

Tim Haymes

Observer

Tim Haymes

Observed

2024 Nov 25 - 21:01

Uploaded

2024 Nov 26 - 14:37

Objects

4954 Eric

Equipment

C11 at F/6
QHY174m-GPS
SharpCap

Exposure

1 sec (occultation measured with 0.15s)

Location

North Oxfordshire

Target name

Asteroid Eric

Title

Asteroid (4954) Eric occults a star

About this image

An a-typical stellar occultation, where the asteroid (m 12.5) is brighter than the star (m 13.0). The light drop is about 0.4, as can be seen in the blue line which has a small drop in brightness for 2.4 sec. [ The green line is a field star of about mag 13.5 ].

FITS images (exp 1sec) were taken before and after to bring out the sky motion which was quite interesting in itself.

I used ADV video format to record the occultation at 7 fps. (SharpCap offers SER, FITS or ADV). The camera logs the time directly from GPS satellites.
Time analysis/duration with Tangra software. D: 2101h 17.1s, R: 2101h 19.5s

It appears that the shape of "Eric" is elongated in one direction. The recorded duration suggest that i caught the longer dimension. This single observation will eventually be combined with future observations to reveal a shape profile.

My observation data is reported to the European SODIS database. https://iota-es.de/
GB observers (in BAA-ARPS) have contributed more than 500 observations in 2 years to this database.

Files associated with this observation

Time_lapse_overlay2.JPG (398.1 kB)

Like this image

Alex Pratt, Jonathon Elliott, Steve Knight, Dominic Ford, Jeremy Shears, Graham Winstanley, Dr Paul Leyland

Comments

Grant Privett, 2024 Nov 26 - 16:10 UTC

Just a quick query.

The exposure length was 0.1sec but you have rather more than 10 data points between 2010110 and 210120. Are you summing shorter exposures and using a windowed sum or median or something?

Sorry, for the ignorance, I use slow CCDs. :)

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