Minor Planet Occultations

(471) Papagena on 03 March 2026

Main belt asteroid (471) Papagena has an estimated diameter of 148 km and at mag +10.6 was a similar brightness to the star it occulted. The minor planet alone can be seen in the middle of the star trail as it passed in front of the mag +10.9 star in this 13 s drift-scan exposure.

Screenshot of drift-scan measurement using Scanalyzer (see page by John Broughton, Reedy Creek Observatory, Australia here).