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| Occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects |
| Dr. James Elliot |
| Thursday, Jun 11, 2009 at 8:00 PM |
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| A stellar occultation occurs when a solar system body passes between a star and an observer. By recording the variations of starlight, one can probe the structure of planetary atmospheres, rings, and limbs with high spatial resolution - limited only by Fresnel diffraction effects.
The atmospheres of the major planets, three of the four planetary ring systems, and numerous asteroids have been probed with stellar occultations. The next challenge for the technique is to observe a stellar occultation by a Kuiper belt object (KBO). From observations of stellar occultations by KBOs we can measure accurate diameters, from which we can derive albedos and densities for those objects with known masses (the KBO binaries). With stellar occultation data we can also probe for close companions and possible tenuous atmospheres. We are engaged in a program to predict and observe stellar occultations by KBOs. Part of this program will involve 10-14 inch telescopes (equipped with high-speed CCD cameras), for which there should be several observable events per year that occur somewhere on Earth. Extensive coverage of the occultation tracks will be important for these events because the prediction error is comparable to the radii of these bodies. Our next opportunity to observe a KBO occultation will occur in the fall of 2009.
Jim Elliot is a professor at MIT, where he has taught observational astronomy for the past 30 years. He observed his first stellar occultation in 1971 (Jupiter occulted beta Sco) and has been hooked on the field ever since. His notable work includes the discovery of the Uranian rings in 1977 and the discovery of Pluto's atmosphere in 1988.
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm before the meeting. |
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