Measuring distant worlds in the blink of a star

Worldwide stellar-occultation campaigns — and the physical-properties database built from them: sizes, shapes, albedos, rings and atmospheres of TNOs, Centaurs and Trojans.

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database updated 23 May 2024 · submit a result →

Occultation monitorSIMULATED EVENT · 9 S LOOP

measuredpredictedchord 545 km · Δt 4.2 s

Reported events

Distinct objects

Chords

Rings & atmospheres

Method

From a shadow to a shape

Predict

Gaia astrometry and orbit determination pinpoint where the shadow falls on Earth.

Observe

Telescope networks time the star's disappearance and reappearance to the millisecond.

Measure

Chord lengths fit the limb, yielding size, shape, rings and atmospheres.

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News & milestones

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Notice · 21 Jul 2026

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If you want to receive a quick message whenever a new result is added to the database, send an e-mail to ribas-at-on.br with the subject 'Subscribe Occ database'.

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21 Jul 2026

Articles

Caught a star blinking out?

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RIO GROUP · UTFPR · OBSERVATÓRIO NACIONAL · LUCKY STAR

Measuring distant worlds in the blink of a star

From a shadow to a shape

News & milestones

Subscribe for updates

Database on detected stellar occultations by small outer Solar System objects

The Rio Group

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