<p>Pluto is actually smaller in diameter than Triton, and is also farther away, meaning that Triton covers roughly 1.4x (according to WA) the angle that Pluto does, making occultation that much more probable apriori, ignoring their actual orbits.</p>

<p>In addition to the above, New Horizons recently observed Pluto's atmosphere with far more detail than what we can do from here on Earth, so it makes sense to measure a different target.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T18:42:50.307Z
2017-12-17T06:27:46.287Z
2017-12-17T06:27:46.287Z
Nathaniel Bubis
<p>I've been listening to an episode of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/ames/nisv-podcast-Kimberly-Ennico-Smith-Michael-Person" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"NASA in Silicon Valley" podcast about the SOFIA mission</a>.</p>

<p>One of the techniques they use at SOFIA is stellar occultations to study different objects.</p>

<p>My impression was that the <em>occultations by Pluto happen much more often than by Triton</em>. Is this true and why is that?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T16:10:20.223Z
@barrycarter independently - a probability of *Pluto in front of a distant star* vs *Triton in front of distant star* events..hope it helps. Thanks.
alecxe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-15T16:20:16.310Z
@barrycarter apologies, still getting the basics. Thanks, good to know! :)
alecxe
<observational-astronomy><telescope><occultation><triton><sofia>
Occultations of Triton
alecxe
# Occultations of Triton

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-15)

I've been listening to an episode of the ["NASA in Silicon Valley" podcast about the SOFIA mission](https://www.nasa.gov/ames/nisv-podcast-Kimberly-Ennico-Smith-Michael-Person).

One of the techniques they use at SOFIA is stellar occultations to study different objects.

My impression was that the *occultations by Pluto happen much more often than by Triton*. Is this true and why is that?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, telescope, occultation, triton, sofia

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @barrycarter independently - a probability of *Pluto in front of a distant star* vs *Triton in front of distant star* events..hope it helps. Thanks.  
> **username_0**: @barrycarter apologies, still getting the basics. Thanks, good to know! :)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-16. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Pluto is actually smaller in diameter than Triton, and is also farther away, meaning that Triton covers roughly 1.4x (according to WA) the angle that Pluto does, making occultation that much more probable apriori, ignoring their actual orbits.

In addition to the above, New Horizons recently observed Pluto's atmosphere with far more detail than what we can do from here on Earth, so it makes sense to measure a different target.


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