Greetings fellow astrophiles!
Despite the torrential snowfall at present, we remain ever optimistic (and it’s too far out to trust any weather predictions anyway) about the possibility of clear skies on the early-early morning of March 20th, when the Main Belt asteroid Erigone will occult the star Regulus in Leo the Lion.
Richard Nugent’s silent youtube movie about the Regulus occultation.
We’ve already posted two lengthy articles on the topic, including the official press release:
And an article describing the occultation measurement and data-collection process itself for determining Erigone’s shape:
I am happy to report that the press release has now appeared on the Kopernik Astronomical Society website (thanks to the efforts of their postmaster general Patrick Manley – the Vestal observatory may be on the far, far western edge of the occultation measurement, but hopefully a good spread of members down there can cover the measurements of the asteroid’s far western side):
* Best And Brightest Asteroid Occultation Ever To Be Visible Across New York State
And a recent universetoday article on the occultation even gives CNYO a linked shout-out (which we gladly accept):
* How to Watch an Asteroid Occult a Bright Star on March 20th
Expect a small flurry of posts next week as we prepare for 14 seconds of pure adrenaline between 2:00 and 2:10 a.m. E.D.T. on March 20th (and, to clarify – because it came up – this means you’ll be staying wide awake on the 19th, pass midnight, then kill two more hours before going outside. Plenty of time to practice while you wait, and hopefully your thumb won’t freeze over waiting to push your stopwatch app).
In the meantime, if you plan on measuring the occultation time, do consider giving the official Regulus Occultation FAQ a thorough once-over: Volunteer observers invited to time the March 20, 2014 Occultation of Regulus
And, to keep track of official International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) announcements and anything else that might come across the page, consider joining the Regulus2014 Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/Regulus2014
