Occultations by Solar System Objects

Occultations occur when a moving object, such as a planet or the moon, blocks the light coming from a more distant object, such as a star. Check out this movie of a lunar occultation.

For abstracts of papers and tables predicting occultations of stars by solar system objects, the places on earth where they may be observed, and observing conditions, click on the appropriate planet name. A summary paper was presented at 1995's AAS/DDA meeting

Pluto [PPM Stars 2000-2050] [P42 July 9, 1998]
Neptune [PPM Stars 2000-2050] (Triton)
Uranus [PPM Stars 2000-2050]
Chiron
Saturn [PPM Stars 2000-2050] [3 December 1999]
Jupiter [5 November 2000] [PPM Stars 2000-2050]
Asteroids (IOTA)
The Moon (IOTA)
Mars [PPM Stars 2000-2050]
Venus [PPM Stars 2000-2050]
Mercury
Picture: "Eclipse from Rhea" by William K. Hartmann, shows "an eclipse of the Sun by Saturn, seen from a point near one of Saturn's moons." It was painted in October 1984 and is used by permission of the owner.

Last updated 25 September 2000 by Doug Mink Telescope Data Center