Abstract
AN occultation of β Scorpii (2.m9) by Jupiter has been predicted to occur on May 13, 1971, at about 1800–2000 UT1. Although not visible from North or South America or western Europe, the occultation should be visible from the rest of the inhabited world. The results of two previous occultations by outer planets (σ Arietis by Jupiter in 19522 and BD–17° 4388 by Neptune in 19683–6) have been rather disappointing in that scale heights deduced from them have uncertainties of a factor of 2 or more. There is also considerable uncertainty in the temperatures, so the derived mean molecular weights have not been very useful. In addition there is probably a bias in the procedure of fitting theoretical “light-curves” to the observed data introduced by “spikes” in the light curves which have been attributed to inhomogeneities in the subject atmospheres.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Taylor, G. E., Intern. Astron. Union Circular, No. 2279 (September 29, 1970).
Baum, W. A., and Code, A. D., Astron. J., 58, 108 (1953).
Osawa, K., Ichimura, K., and Shimizu, M., Tokyo Astron. Bull., Second Series, 2182 (1968).
Takenouchi, T., Tomita, K., and Hirayama, T., Tokyo Astron. Bull., Second Series, 2177 (1968).
Lyngå, G., Freeman, K. C., Miller, M. J., Serkowski, K., and Stokes, N., Proc. ASA, 1, 201 (1969).
Freeman, K. C., and Lyngå, G., Proc. ASA, 1, 203 (1969).
Allen, C. W., Astrophysical Quantities, 87 (Athlone Press, 1963).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BRINKMANN, R. Occultation by Jupiter. Nature 230, 515–516 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/230515a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/230515a0
This article is cited by
-
Structure of Jupiter and Saturn
Space Science Reviews (1973)
-
The helium abundance on Jupiter
Space Science Reviews (1973)
-
Jupiter Occultation of Beta Scorpii: Are the Flashes Time-symmetric?
Nature (1972)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.