RECON: TNO occultation with 278361

Event between (278361) 07JJ43 and star GA0640:17563254 with event index number of 2182465

Geocentric closest approach at 2026/05/12 02:44:46 UTC

J2000 position of star is 17:38:40.2 -25:07:21
Equinox of date position of star is 17:40:09.7 -25:08:04
Stellar brightness G=16.2, use SENSEUP=128 with the MallinCam and and exposure time of 2 seconds with the QHY174 camera.
Star is 83 degrees from the moon. Moon is 28% illuminated.
Apparent brightness V=20.6

Object is 40.5 AU from the Sun and 39.7 AU from the Earth.
Apparent velocity is 19.3 km/sec on the sky relative to the star, or, 2.4 arcsec/hr.
The 1-sigma error in the time of the event is 450 seconds.
The 1-sigma cross-track error in the shadow position is 2052 km.

The object has an absolute magnitude Hv=4.5
Diameter=758.6 km assuming a 5% albedo -- 39.5 sec chord
Diameter=309.7 km assuming a 30% albedo -- 16.1 sec chord
Dynamical classification is SCATNEAR
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Star training set for 278361, (2026/05/12 02:24UT)
Object            RA         Dec     mag  sep  mel
Antares        16:31:01.7 -26:29:17  0.9 15.64  98
35Eta Oph      17:11:53.5 -15:45:20  2.6 11.49  90
PPM 266967     17:33:22.7 -26:17:15  6.3  1.94  84
PPM 267044     17:37:11.1 -24:38:38  7.9  0.86  83
PPM 267088     17:39:32.2 -24:58:46  8.7  0.23  83
278361         17:40:17.7 -25:08:08 16.2        82
Positions are for equinox of date

Azimuth is measured in degrees eastward from north. North is at an azimuth of 0, due East is at an azimuth of 90 degrees, due South is 180, and due West is 270.

Do not use the listing below for the RECON CPC 1100 telescopes. This is provided for other non-team facilities.

Star training set for 278361, (2026/05/12 02:24UT)
Object            RA         Dec     mag  sep  mel
Antares        16:29:24.4 -26:25:56  0.9 15.64  98
35Eta Oph      17:10:22.7 -15:43:29  2.6 11.49  90
PPM 266967     17:31:44.4 -26:16:11  6.3  1.94  84
PPM 267044     17:35:33.9 -24:37:44  7.9  0.86  83
PPM 267088     17:37:54.8 -24:57:57  8.7  0.23  83
278361         17:38:40.2 -25:07:21 16.2        83
Positions are for J2000

Event circumstances last updated at 2024/03/04 05:58:13 UT

Marc W. Buie, Southwest Research Institute

RECON