Haze in Pluto's atmosphere: Results from SOFIA and ground-based observations of the 2015 June 29 Pluto occultation

On UT 29 June 2015, the occultation by Pluto of a bright star (r? = 11.9) was observed from Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and several ground-based stations in New Zealand Australia. Pre-event astrometry allowed an in-flight update to SOFIA team with result that deep within central flash zone (~22 km center). Analysis combined data leads Pluto's middle atmosphere is essentially unchanged 2011 2013 (Person et al. 2013; Bosh 2015); there has been no significant expansion or contraction atmosphere. Additionally, our multi-wavelength observations allow us conclude haze component required reproduce light curves obtained. This scenario implications understanding photochemistry