SOFIA successfully observes Pluto occultation

Astronomy : On 23 June NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observed Pluto’s passage in front of a distant star. Planetery occultations—when a star is hidden by a planet that passes between it and the observer—that involve Pluto allow astronomers to study the dwarf planet’s atmospheric pressure, density, and temperature profiles. SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft carrying a 100-inch telescope; it operates in the stratosphere and is thus able to make observations unhindered by the water vapor in Earth’s lower atmosphere. The mobile observatory flew from its base in southern California to intersect Pluto’s shadow as it traveled across the Pacific Ocean and was able to place itself to maximum advantage, in the center of the planetary shadow.