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2010 programme
Sun 4th
13:30-14:00
Pluto and Charon Occultation of 2008
Dave Gault
International Occultation Timing Association, Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group
On the 22nd June 2008 Pluto and Charon occulted the star 2UCAC 25370733, a magnitude 12.4 star in north western Sagittarius. This event would give observers from Australia to South Africa an opportunity to observe events involving Pluto and Charon occulting the same star.
Weather played an important role in determining success of the observation but seven observers managed to dodge the clouds to record positive events for Pluto and one observer on Réunion Island observed a positive event for Charon. This twin occultation is the first ever recorded for Pluto and Charon.
These successes enabled the characteristics of Pluto’s atmosphere and the Pluto-Charon orbits to be refined.
This presentation will discuss observation techniques and will show what is now known about Pluto’s atmosphere and discuss updates to the Pluto-Charon ephemerides.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Pluto and Charon presentation (9.3MB ZIP) | 9.31 MB |
Dave is a keen Telescope Maker and Occultation Observer. He’s made 5 mirrors and 2 telescopes and observed:- hundreds of total lunar occultations, 26 grazing occultations, 23 positive asteroid occultations and one Solar Eclipse.