2018 August 15 stellar occultation by minor planet (134340) Pluto

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present photometric light curves of the stellar occultation event of the star UCAC4 341-187633 on 2018 August 15 by the minor planet (134340) Pluto. Photometric observations were carried out using the 2.1-m telescope at the San Pedro Mártir Observatory and the 1.3-m telescopes at Sites 2 and 3 of the Trans-Neptunian Automated Occultation Survey (TAOS II) project, and using a portable 0.4-m telescope from Bahía Asunción, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Different filters were used with the 2.1-m telescope and the TAOS II telescopes, whilst observations with the portable system were performed with no filter. The resulting light curves from the San Pedro Mártir Observatory show clear structures, with at least two bright spikes observed on ingress and one more observed on egress as the star traverses the atmosphere of the dwarf planet. The light curve from the portable telescope (440 km away) measured a longer duration for the occultation event, because the shadow of Pluto was observed at a lower latitude. Normalized light curves were created for the 2.1-m telescope, the Site 3 telescope of the TAOS II and the portable telescope. These normalized light curves show a difference in amplitude.