<p>(Greg Miller and Heopps have already provided links for tables of occultations.) Off the top of my head I am familiar with Uranus's occultation of the star SAO 158687 (also known as HD 128598) on 10 March 1977 that led to the discovery of the Uranian ring system. A team from Cornell University observing the event from NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (now defunct) found that the star dimmed five times before slipping behind the planet and then again five times after emerging from behind the planet. The team eventually concluded that a system of nine rings around Uranus would account for its observations.</p>
<p>In 1986, Voyager 2 imaged these nine rings and detected two more. In 2003-2005, the Hubble Space Telescope found another two rings, bringing the current known total to thirteen.</p>
<p>Edit (added 22 Nov 2022): The Neptunian ring system was discovered by similar means - stellar occultations by Neptune. The Neptunian rings are sometimes described as clumpy or clustered or &quot;ring arcs.&quot; Voyager 2 confirmed the existence of Neptune's rings.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Uranus" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rings of Uranus</a></p>
<p><a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977Natur.267..328E/abstract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The rings of Uranus</a></p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Neptune" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rings of Neptune</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-19T04:20:27.160Z
2022-11-23T03:10:29.183Z
2022-11-23T03:10:29.183Z
WPWPWP
<p>I would like to figure out if any of the solar system planets have ever eclipsed a particular star (i.e. crossed the line of sight from Earth to the star) or will eclipse it in the future. Is that possible to do, given that I know the RA and Dec of the star I'm interested in? Is there any astronomical software that would allow me to do that?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-16T14:34:53.427Z
"Occult" will do what you want: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-16T17:14:00.040Z
What star are you interested in? Would an occultation by the Moon or asteroid be of intetest?
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-18T06:34:49.860Z
Tables of star occultations by planets can be found here (up to year 2050): http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/occultations/
Heopps
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-18T06:42:11.083Z
If I understand correctly - there are "geocentric predictions". The real observability and duration of occultations will depend on where you are geographically.
Heopps
<star><planet>
Stars being eclipsed by planets
user1551817
# Stars being eclipsed by planets

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-16)

I would like to figure out if any of the solar system planets have ever eclipsed a particular star (i.e. crossed the line of sight from Earth to the star) or will eclipse it in the future. Is that possible to do, given that I know the RA and Dec of the star I'm interested in? Is there any astronomical software that would allow me to do that?

**Tags:** star, planet

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "Occult" will do what you want: http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm  
> **username_2**: What star are you interested in? Would an occultation by the Moon or asteroid be of intetest?  
> **username_3**: Tables of star occultations by planets can be found here (up to year 2050): http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/occultations/  
> **username_3**: If I understand correctly - there are "geocentric predictions". The real observability and duration of occultations will depend on where you are geographically.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-11-19. Score: 4

(username_1 and username_3 have already provided links for tables of occultations.) Off the top of my head I am familiar with Uranus's occultation of the star SAO 158687 (also known as HD 128598) on 10 March 1977 that led to the discovery of the Uranian ring system. A team from Cornell University observing the event from NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (now defunct) found that the star dimmed five times before slipping behind the planet and then again five times after emerging from behind the planet. The team eventually concluded that a system of nine rings around Uranus would account for its observations.

In 1986, Voyager 2 imaged these nine rings and detected two more. In 2003-2005, the Hubble Space Telescope found another two rings, bringing the current known total to thirteen.

Edit (added 22 Nov 2022): The Neptunian ring system was discovered by similar means - stellar occultations by Neptune. The Neptunian rings are sometimes described as clumpy or clustered or "ring arcs." Voyager 2 confirmed the existence of Neptune's rings.

[Rings of Uranus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Uranus)

[The rings of Uranus](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977Natur.267..328E/abstract)

[Rings of Neptune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Neptune)


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