On December 7th, 2003, the asteroid #757 (Portlandia) was seen passing in front of an 8th magnitude star (HIP 384), blocking the starlight for observers in Ohio, Ontario and the province of Quebec. From the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario, a grazing occultation was seen. The initial fading and brief reappearance of HIP 384 before it completely disappeared is probably due to a deep depression along the midsection of the ~30 km diameter asteroid or possibly due to the asteroid having a companion. Even more interesting is the fact that the starlight didn't completely disappear during the first part of the occultation, possibly an indication that HIP 384 is a binary star system.

I know of six other detections and four non-detections reported in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and one more detection in Ohio. All of this data is being examined by the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) to work out a model-profile for the asteroid(s). Existing photometry for 757 Portlandia is consistent with a non-spherical shape and one old observation for HIP 384 hints that it may be a spectroscopic binary (though this has not been supported by any recent observations). I will try to keep this page updated as the data gets further reduced.

The chords on the plot belong to the following:
1. Geoff Gaherty: 3.4 secs
2. Phil Hoyle (Ohio; the only successful observer not in Toronto area, Canada)
3. Frank Dempsey: 4.0 secs
4 and 5 Ian Shelton et al (DDO)
6 and 7 reference points for computing the plot
8. Vimal Lad: observed miss (northwest side)
9. Scott Masterton: 2.8 secs
10. Guy Nason and John Marchese: observed miss (southeast side)
11. Mike Cook: 3.1 secs

[ ]

	These images are from observations carried out by Dr. Ian Shelton using the David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) 1.88-meter telescope and intensified CCD guide camera on its Cassegrain Spectrograph.

Star HIP 384 Eclipsed by Asteroid # 757 (Portlandia)