Occultation of SAO 158687 by Uranus on 1977 March 10

G. E. Taylor, H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, provides the following predicted local circumstances, derived from the observations on IAUC 3038 but assuming a radius of 27 000 km for Uranus: Station Disappearance Appearance UT P h* hs UT P h* hs Perth 20h8 355o 67o -18o 21h3 40o 62o -12o Johannesburg 20.9 344 24 -53 21.6 50 33 -58 h* and hs represent the altitudes of the star and the sun, respectively. It should also be noted, however, that observations with astrographs at both the Perth and Sydney Observatories indicate that no occultation will be observable from anywhere on the earth. P. K. Seidelmann and T. C. Van Flandern, U.S. Nautical Almanac Office, report that complete reduction of the transit-circle observations (IAUC 3038) confirms that the SAO position of the star requires correction by +1".15 +/- 0".10 in Decl.; reduction of observations of the lunar occultation on Feb. 10 yields a similar result, if it is assumed that the correction in R.A. is negligible. Transit-circle observations of Uranus confirm that the A.E. position of the planet requires correction by -0".22 in Decl. Computations by the undersigned suggest that, all things considered, prospects of an occultation are very good for southern Africa and fairly good for southwestern Australia.