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(34339) 2000 QH218 Occults Naked-Eye-Star on 2019 February 05 in Europe

In the late evening of February 5th, the 11-km minor planet (34339) 2000 QH218 will occult HIP 48455 (3.4 Vmag). Observers in the occultation path will see a disapperance of the most northern star in the lion’s head in the constellation Leo for an expected duration of 1.4 sec.

In Europe the centre line will cross Ukranie and Moldavia (~22.20 U.T.), Romania and Hungary (~22:21 U.T.), Austria [~22:22 U.T.) and Switzerland and France (~22:23 U.T.). In the case of an occultation by the minor planet the combined magnitude will drop about 14.1 mag. The target area is located about 61 deg above the horizon in the southeastern sky (for position at centre line at E 12 deg).

Observers with video or CCD cameras should be aware that fading of the light of the target star is possible due to the star diameter. A high frame rate is requested for recording this phenomena. Please choose the exposure carefully and avoid any saturation of the target star.

Path maps for Europe

Centre line: Ukraine, Moldawia, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France








About the maps:
The path was predicted by Steve Preston, IOTA, on 2019 Jan 13. The green line is the centre line, the blue lines indicate the path limits, and the red lines the 1-sigma-limit. The occultation will occur between the two red lines with a probability of 68 %. (Map data: (c) 2019 GeoBasis-DE/BKG ((c) 2009), Google)

Observers outside the path should be aware that paths shifts are common at occultations. Please observe even outside the 1-sigma-limit. Be prepared for an occultation!

Please send your observation reports to: pr@iota-es.de


Oliver Klös
IOTA/ES, Public Relations