I just don't understand Dryson's thought processes. Perhaps it's because I've never studied educational psychology so I don't know where to start illuminating the darkness.
He appears to think the distance of the occulting bodies from the star makes a difference. However, if the bodies are much less distant from the star (assuming small fractions of a light year based on the observations) than they are from the solar system (1480 light years), then it makes little difference to the subtended solid angle as measured from the solar system.
I'm not even going to try to explain what a solid angle is to him...
He appears to think the distance of the occulting bodies from the star makes a difference. However, if the bodies are much less distant from the star (assuming small fractions of a light year based on the observations) than they are from the solar system (1480 light years), then it makes little difference to the subtended solid angle as measured from the solar system.
I'm not even going to try to explain what a solid angle is to him...