Hi BMD,
When I do the ephemeris calculations to screen for observable close approaches, I run the ephemeris for 40 days at 2-hour intervals. That seems to be good enough to find the time of maximum brightness. You're correct, max brightness usually doesn't coincide with Minimum Re due to the phase angle. It's similar to what happens with Venus.
I have no idea how close these predictions come to the actual brightness. Other than you, Dennis & George it doesn't seem like there are too many folks who try to observe these events, at least not on this forum.
Phil S.
When I do the ephemeris calculations to screen for observable close approaches, I run the ephemeris for 40 days at 2-hour intervals. That seems to be good enough to find the time of maximum brightness. You're correct, max brightness usually doesn't coincide with Minimum Re due to the phase angle. It's similar to what happens with Venus.
I have no idea how close these predictions come to the actual brightness. Other than you, Dennis & George it doesn't seem like there are too many folks who try to observe these events, at least not on this forum.
Phil S.