Titania Ireland Mini-Campaign: Information and Documentation

The contribution of the astronomical community of Ireland to the scientific study of the solar system.

Titania is the largest satellite of the planet Uranus. It is 1578 km in diameter and orbits Uranus at a distance of 436273 km completing one revolution around the planet every 208.9411 hr. Our first (and only) views of Titania's surface were captured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its 1986 flyby of the planet.

In September 8th 2001 nature will offer scientists on Earth the opportunity to learn a lot more about this remote object's shape, (possible) atmosphere and orbital parameters. At around 02:00 UTC on September 8th, a 7.2-magnitude star will be occulted by Titania as seen from a relatively wide zone traversing Central America, the Atlantic Ocean and Western Europe. There is also a 30%-40% chance that the event will be visible from part or the whole of Ireland. The Call for Observations home page also offers a bunch of information about this phenomenon.

These pages offer material on:

• The star and the science from the Planetary Occultations Group at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, U. Arizona
• The satellite (and a color image)
• Finder chart (from CfO page)
• Most recent occultation track estimate
• Apparent path of star through the Uranian system (from S&T magazine)
• Results from the international campaign

Also, the weather:

• BBC Weather forecast for Northern Ireland
• RTE Weather forecast for the Republic of Ireland
• Weather statistics for September

• Video ( astronomical CCD cameras or Low Light Level security cameras )
• Time information from the US Naval Observatory and the UK National Physical Laboratory (Rugby time signal)

All pages are under continuous development: additions are added and modifications are made when possible or necessary. DO NOT hesitate to contact the author relevant additions and modifications. It is, however, my very own decision (and often time pressure) that makes me introducing (or not) your valuable and appreciated work.

URL of this page is: [http://star.arm.ac.uk/~aac/titania.htm]
Last modified: 2001 August 30.