(This report was originally posted on the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) newsgroup).
I successfully observed the (628) Christine occultation this morning from my driveway in Calgary (114°05'35"W, 50°59'26"N, elevation 1081m) with my Meade 8" LX200GPS and PC164C video camera with f/3.3 focal reducer. Sky conditions were perfect and WWV reception was excellent. Even the temperature was a mild +5C. My times are:
disappearance: 11:06:09.1 UTC ± 0.2 sec. reappearance : 11:07:08.2 UTC ± 0.2 sec. duration : 59.1 sec.Since the maximum expected duration was 43.8 sec., it appears that the asteroid was larger than expected or elongated along my chord.
The mid-time was 31 sec. early.
I also videotaped the appulse of (790) Pretoria nine minutes earlier. I was well north of the nominal path, and no secondary events were observed.