Occultation by Pluto (2018-08-15)
This occultation has a more recent update available here
Occultation map
Information about the map:
- The straight and continue lines are the shadow limits considering the estimated radius; when the shadow crosses the Earth's surface, the path is projected on the Earth;
- Each blue dot is spaced by one minute and the big blue dot corresponds to the nominal occultation time (which is the geocentric closest approach);
- The arrow shows the direction of the shadow motion;
- The 1-σ precision along the path is represented by the red dotted line;
- The star G* and RP* are the G (from Gaia) and RP (red photometer from GaiaDR2) magnitudes, normalized to a body moving at 20km/s in order to enhance very slow events;
- The body offset is at the upper right corner, if JPL ephemeris is used;
- Areas in dark grey correspond to full night (Sun elevation below -18 degrees) and areas in light grey correspond to twilight (Sun elevation between -18 and 0 degrees) while daytime is in white;
- Be careful, the dates are from the moment of the event in Universal Time, the night of the event may begin at the date before.
Occultation circumstances
| Date | Wed. 15 Aug. 2018 05:32:32 |
| Star position (ICRF) | 19 22 10.4687 -21 58 49.020 |
| C/A | 0.172 arcsec |
| P/A | 347.11 ° |
| velocity | -19.33 km/s |
| Geocentric distance Δ | 32.7670 au |
| G mag* | 13.0 |
| RP mag* | 12.5 |
| Magnitude drop | 1.8 |
| Uncertainty in time | - |
| Uncertainty in C/A | - |
| Uncertainty in projected distance | - |
| Probability of occultation on centrality | - |
| Maximum duration | 126.2 sec |
| Moon distance to the object | 94.8° |
| Fraction of illuminated Moon | 19.5 % |
| Solar elongation | 146.6° |
Occulted star
| Star source ID | 6772629170525258240 |
| Stellar catalogue | GAIADR2 |
| Star astrometric position in catalogue (ICRF) | 19 22 10.4673 -21 58 49.049 |
| Star astrometric position with proper motion (ICRF) | 19 22 10.4687 -21 58 49.020 |
| Star apparent position (date) | 19 23 17.3224 -21 56 32.014 |
| Proper motion | μRA* = (6.2 ± 0.1)mas; μDEC = (9.2 ± 0.1) mas |
| Source of proper motion | GAIADR2 |
| Uncertainty in the star position | RA* = 0.2 mas; DEC= 0.2 mas |
| G magnitude | 13.0 |
| RP magnitude (GaiaDR2) | 12.5 |
Objet
| Object | (S999) Pluto |
| Diameter | 2440.0 km |
| Apparent diameter | 102.7 mas |
| Object astrometric position (ICRF) | 19 22 10.4660 -21 58 48.852 |
| Object apparent position (date) | 19 23 17.3197 -21 56 31.846 |
| Uncertainty in position | - |
| Apparent magnitude | 14.6 |
| Ephemeris | JPLDE436PLU055 |
| Dynamic class(1) | plutino |
| Semi major axis(1) | 39.7 au |
| Eccentricity(1) | 0.253 |
| Inclination(1) | 17.1° |
| Perihelion(1) | 29.7 au |
| Aphelion(1) | 49.8 au |
(1) Data from the johnston archive list.