Program: GN-2022B-Q-131

An occultation on 05-SEP-2022 provides a rare opportunity to observe Titan with the VLT as it passes over a bright star and take disk-resolved images and high-cadence photometry that show refracted starlight passing through Titan's limb. This refracted light is extremely sensitive to zonal winds in Titan's atmosphere, permitting a probe of the complex dynamics of Titan's atmosphere. Occultation observations probing the stratosphere are infrequent, and existing Global Circulation models (GCMs) would benefit from new data that would constrain zonal winds and would improve our fundamental understanding of the 3-dimensional dynamics of Titan's atmosphere. Furthermore, the few existing data sets (from occultation lightcurves and ALMA Doppler wind retrievals) are contradictory and need to be resolved. The proposed observation is part of a coordinated campaign to observe Titan's winds in 2022, including awarded ALMA Doppler wind measurements.