Occultation of star by epsilon ring of Uranus

[marleymang]

I'm having trouble solving this question...

If the epsilon ring of Uranus is 75 km wide, how long will it occult a star?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chris Hillman]

As seen from Earth?

 

[tony873004]

It depends on where Earth is in its orbit. Uranus, like all outer planets displays retrograde motion during the periods surrounding Earth conjunction. At times it moves quickly against the background stars compared to its average speed. And at other times it stalls.

It also depends on the angle of the rings as seen from Earth. A 75 km wide ring seen edge-on won't even be visible.

 

[Chris Hillman]

These are exactly the issues I was trying to get marleymang to notice.