Thanks to all the moms who are directly and indirectly supporting our collaborative exploration of the Outer Solar System through the RECON Project!!!

After a four month hiatus, the RECON network is swinging back in action this Sunday night/Monday morning with a doubleheader campaign. The first target of the night will be Classical Kuiper Belt Object 99HR11, which is set to occult a magnitude 14 star between 12:50-1:38AM PDT/MST (7:50-8:38 UT). This Classical KBO has a mostly circular orbit and is over 6 billion km (41 AU) from Earth. The object estimated to be between somewhere between 90-220 km in diameter, but RECON hopes to measure this more precisely.

Just under 45 minutes after this first event, our RECON teams will be moving all of their scopes to the east to acquire the star field for Centaur 02GZ32, which will be occulting a magnitude 13 star between 2:22-2:37AM PDT/MST (9:22-9:37 UT). Follow-up predictions indicate that this target will be passing over the southern portion of the RECON network.

Discovery of ring system around Chariklo during 2013 occultation campaign (Nature 508, 72–75, 03 April 2014)

The network is very well positioned to discover whether this Centaur has a ring system. Rings were discovered around a similar-sized Centaur named Chariklo during an occultation campaign back in 2013. Does 02GZ32 also have rings? Does it have any moons? RECON is well positioned to find out!  Even though the central object is predicted to be to the south, the entire network is essential for searching for other material in the vicinity.

For RECON teams, we want to provide the following day-out reminders:

• Be sure to check the Camera Settings Guide to make sure that you are have the display set to 640×480. For those sites that get a “green screen” after changing this setting, you will have to press the “P” key to view the camera field in Preview Mode – now and for the remainder of the RECON project!
• Confirm that your IOTA-VTI is set to FULL SCREEN – now and for the remainder of the RECON Project!
• Complete the Pre-Event Confirmation Forms:
  • Pre-Event Confirmation Form for 99HR11
  • Pre-Event Confirmation Form for 02GZ32 (this form includes a field for indicating if you would like support from RECON for a substitute on Monday)
• Make sure that your laptop and power supply are fully charged and print out the following before the event:
  • Event Page for 09HR11
  • Event Detail Page for 09HR11
  • Event Page for 02GZ32
  • Event Detail Page for 02GZ32
  • Observation Logsheet (use the logsheet to indicate which filenames correspond to which video)
• Check out updated recommendations for the sequencing of position video, event video, and sky and dark field videos on the Event Pages above. Because Sky Field videos require turning the telescope off, you should save these for after both events. As a quick summary, we recommend:
  • Recording IOTA-VTI Position video
  • Recording 99HR11 Event at 64x
  • Acquiring field for 02GZ32
  • Recording Dark Field video at 64x if there is time before 02GZ32 (save for after 02GZ32 event if there is not time)
  • Recording 02GZ32 Event at 16x (or 32x if conditions are poor)
  • Recording Dark Field video at 16x (or 32x) after 02GZ32
  • Recording Sky Field videos at 64x and 16x (or 32x)
• In the days following the event, teams should upload their videos and logsheet information using the RECON cwrsync tool.  See Reporting Observations for details.

Sky conditions are looking good for most RECON sites except for a handful north of Reno. Check out RECON Sky Conditions for more details. Good luck to all. And again, Happy Mother’s Day!