Upcoming Asteroid Occultations January 2016

Sometimes objects like the moon, planets or asteroids move in front of a star. An observer in the right location can see the star disappear or dim for a few seconds then brighten again. The occultation path across the Earth is roughly the width of the asteroid. The chart below lists several asteroid occultations over the next month which will be visible near Toronto. The Location column gives an idea of how far the nearer edge of the predicted occultation path is from downtown Toronto. The links have maps for observers in Canada/US, as well as finder charts, coordinates, brightness of the target star, etc. Learn more about asteroids and how to time occultations.

If a link does not work, search for the asteroid name and “occultation”.

Toronto Date & Time  Sun.  Jan. 17, 00:43h
Star magnitude  11.1
Asteroid name:   (924) Toni.
Approximate Azimuth: 263^o,  Altitude 16 ^o
Location closest path:  From north edge Toronto to Collingwood moving eastward along the north edge of Lake Ontario.
Links:  website,   map

Toronto Date & Time  Sun.  Jan. 17, 22:31h
Star magnitude  11.0
Asteroid name:   (305) Gordonia.
Approximate azimuth: 127 ^o,  Altitude 47 ^o
Location closest path: A little north of and a little narrower that the other one,    going almost due westward.
Links:  website,   map