In 1977, Uranus occulted a star, and the starlight flickered 40 minutes before and after the actual occultation, revealing Uranus' rings.
This is common knowledge to astronomers, but what I can't find out is which star Uranus occulted. Can someone give me the name of this star?
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$\begingroup$ I've just asked Why was this answer deleted? Is it possible to re-open and this link added to it? $\endgroup$– uhohJan 26, 2019 at 0:56
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From wikipedia, the rings of uranus
The definitive discovery of the Uranian Rings [...] use[d] the occultation of the star SAO 158687[...]
The star SAO 158687, also cataloged as HD 128598 is a magnitude 8.7, orange dwarf star in Libra. There seems to be nothing special about the star, except that one day, a planet passed in front of it.
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6$\begingroup$ A planet with previously unknown rings passed in front of it $\endgroup$– user15217Dec 27, 2016 at 1:12