The VOccDB database provides the prediction of stellar occultations of bright GaiaDR3 stars by natural satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus over the period 2024-2033. The VOccDB database is available on the VESPA datacenter.
These data will be updated as soon as new theories of natural satellites will be published. All predictions are given in TDB and UTC, with the difference TDB-UTC estimated from 2024 at 69.184s.
VOccDB contains global circumstances of predicted occultations by the following natural satellites:
The VOccDB database is built in the Virtual Observatory (VO) context using the EPN-TAP protocol.
The detailed content of the VOccDB database is given in the following table.
| Name | Unit | Type | Description |
| granule_uid | - | text | Internal table row index, unique within the table. Buildt as : [date in iso format]_[target_name]_[ephemeris_source] |
| granule_gid | - | text | Common to granules of same type. Here it is the occulting body (target_name) |
| obs_id | - | text | Associates granules derived from the same data. Here, obs_id=granule_uid |
| target_name | - | text | name of the target |
| target_class | - | text | Type of the target |
| time_min | d | double precision | Julian date of the first contact (UTC) |
| time_max | d | double precision | Julian date of the last contact (UTC) |
| c1min | deg | double precision | Right ascension (ICRF) of the target at the time of the first contact from the geocenter |
| c1max | deg | double precision | Right ascension (ICRF) of the target at the time of the last contact from the geocenter |
| c2min | deg | double precision | Declination (ICRF) of the target at the time of the first contact from the geocenter |
| c2max | deg | double precision | Declination (ICRF) of the target at the time of the last contact from the geocenter |
| datalink_url | - | text | datalink service providing the URL of the image of the prediction and the url to the associated ephemeride on the webservice miriade |
| alt_target_name | - | text | Alternative target name (number, name, designations) |
| ra | deg | double precision | Right ascension (ICRF) of the target at the time of the occultation from the geocenter |
| dec | deg | double precision | Declination (ICRF) of the target at the time of the occultation from the geocenter |
| earth_distance_min | AU | double precision | Geocentric distance of the target at the time of the occultation |
| earth_distance_max | AU | double precision | Geocentric distance of the target at the time of the occultation |
| target_apparent_radius | arcsec | double precision | Apparent radius of the target at the time of the occultation |
| mean_radius | km | double precision | Mean radius of the target |
| magnitude | mag | double precision | Apparent magnitude of the target at the time of the occultation |
| moon_elong | deg | double precision | Elongation of the Moon at the time of the occultation |
| moon_phase | deg | double precision | Sun-Earth-Moon phase angle at the time of the occultation |
| solar_elong | deg | double precision | Solar elongation of the target at the time of the occultation |
| separation_close_app | arcsec | double precision | Angular separation between star and target at the closest approach from geocenter |
| north_pole_angle | deg | double precision | Position angle of the target wrt star at close approach from geocentre (positive eastward) |
| max_duration | sec | double precision | Maximum duration of the occultation |
| relative_velocity | km/s | double precision | Relative velocity of the occultation |
| ephemeris_source | - | text | Unique source identifier of the star in Gaia catalogue |
| bessel_x | N/A | double precision | First component of Besselian element (x) in Earth's radius |
| bessel_y | N/A | double precision | Second component of Besselian element (y) in Earth's radius |
| bessel_vx | N/A | double precision | Third component of Besselian element (vx) in Earth's radius/day |
| bessel_vy | N/A | double precision | Fourth component of Besselian element (vy) in Earth's radius/day |
| greenwich_apparent_sideral_time | rad | double precision | Greenwich apparent sideral time at the time of the occultation |
| mag_drop | mag | double precision | Drop in magnitude of the occultation (99.99 if satellite eclipsed) |
| star_ra | deg | double precision | Right ascension (ICRF) of the occulted star at the time of the occultation from the geocenter |
| star_dec | deg | double precision | Declination (ICRF) of the occulted star at the time of the occultation from the geocenter |
| error_star_ra | mas | double precision | error on the Right ascension of the occulted star at the time of the occultation |
| error_star_dec | mas | double precision | error on the Declination of the occulted star at the time of the occultation |
| star_gaia_id | N/A | text | Gaia star identifier (GDR3) |
| star_G_mag | mag | double precision | Gaia star magnitude (GDR3) |
| star_RP_mag | mag | double precision | Gaia RP star magnitude (GDR3) |
| star_H_mag | mag | double precision | H magnitude of the star (2MASS) |
| star_RUWE_gaia | N/A | double precision | RUWE of the Gaia star |
| star_duplicity_flag | N/A | integer | Duplicity flag of the Gaia star (0: no duplicity, 1: duplicity) |
| target_eclipsed_flag | N/A | integer | Eclipsed target flag of the target (0: no eclipse, 1: eclipsed) |
| star_planet_ang_dist | arcsec | double precision | Angular separation between the planet and satellite centers |
The predictions of occultations were done using planetary ephemeris INPOP19a (Fienga et al., 2019, link) and the following ephemeris for natural satellites:
Credits:
Creators: J. Desmars
Contributors: J. Desmars, W. Thuillot, D. Hestroffer, C. Azria, S. Erard, PADC
Publisher: Paris Astronomical Data Centre - IMCCE