[IAUC] CBET 3985: 20140924 : STELLAR OCCULTATION BY (93) MINERVA AND ITS SATELLITES

[quai en eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3985
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau en eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat en iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


STELLAR OCCULTATION BY (93) MINERVA AND ITS SATELLITES
     F. Vachier, J. Berthier, and B. Carry, Institut de Mecanique Celeste et
de Calcul des Ephemerides (IMCCE); S. Messner, Northfield, MN, USA; D. Dunham,
International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) and KinetX Aerospace; J.
Dunham, IOTA; P. D. Maley, IOTA and Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society;
and C. McPartlin, S. Preston, and B. Timerson, IOTA, report the successful
observation of the stellar occultation of TYC 1822-00535-1 (mag 10.0) by the
triple-minor-planet system (93) Minerva (cf. IAUCs 9069, 9271) on Sept.
6.33784 UTC.  Among twelve reports (cf. website URL
http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/observations/Results/), nine positive
chords of the occultation by the primary, lasting between 8.08 and 16.80 s,
have been reported, which confirms the value of the equivalent diameter of
154 +/- 6 km determined by Marchis et al. (2013, Icarus 224, 178).  One
observation recorded by Messner permitted the detection of what appears to be
a brief, 0.6-s stellar occultation by one moonlet of the system; preliminary
analysis suggests that this could be due to the inner satellite II
(Gorgoneion), which would imply that the satellite's size is about 6.5 km
across the chord, and thus that it is either larger than the estimated 3.2 +/-
0.9 km (Marchis et al.) or significantly elongated.  The derived relative
apparent position of the moonlet is 0".128(1) west and 0".106(1) south of the
at primary at epoch 2014 Sept. 6.33767.  Additional observations of the (93)
Minerva system are strongly encouraged.  Vachier posted predicted paths at
URL http://www.imcce.fr/~vachier/pub/binaries/occult/2014-11-08_93_Minerva
for an occultation of a 9.5-magnitude star by Minerva I (Aegis) and Minerva II
(Gorgoneion) on 2014 Nov. 8 with predicted paths across China, South Korea,
and Japan.  The updated path of the primary occultation is available at URL
http://www.asteroidoccultation.com/2014_11/1108_93_33230.htm.


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 September 24                (CBET 3985)              Daniel W. E. Green