on 12th December, asteroid 319 Leona will pass directly in front of Betelgeuse, the red giant in the constellation of Orion whose name amusingly translates to armpit of the giant – now there’s a fact to amuse and astound your friends.
The asteroid 319 Leona will occult Betelgeuse on December 12, 2023. The occultation will be visible from southern Europe, Turkey, Greece, and Sicily. The asteroid will block Betelgeuse’s light for about 12 seconds, dimming the star by about 3 magnitudes.
The asteroid is about 60 km across and will pass in front of a star that is over 650 light years away. The occultation may help astronomers map Betelgeuse’s convective cells and understand the distribution of brightness over the star’s disk.
The asteroid’s path was refined by observing a similar occultation on September 13. The OccultWatcher website has more information about the occultation.
Asteroid 319 Leona is a dark, reddish asteroid that orbits the sun every 2,300 days. It’s about 49.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids.
Here are some facts about asteroid 319 Leona:
- Discovery: French astronomer Auguste Charlois discovered it on October 8, 1891 at Nice Observatory in southeastern France.
- Orbit: It orbits the sun every 2,300 days (6.30 years).
- Size: It’s about 49.9 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than 99% of asteroids.
- Color: It’s dark and reddish in color.
- Rotation: It’s a slow rotator, taking around 18 days to turn around.
- Gravity: It has a gravity of 0.02 m/s².
On December 12, 2023, asteroid 319 Leona will pass directly in front of Betelgeuse, a red giant star in the constellation of Orion. This will offer astronomers a unique opportunity to probe the instabilities of the star and map its surface structure
On December 12, 2023, the asteroid (319) Leona will occult the star Betelgeuse. The occultation will be visible from southern Europe, Turkey, Greece, and Sicily from about 01:09–01:27 UT.
To capture the occultation, you can use a DSLR, tripod, and timestamping app.
Betelgeuse is a variable star that’s 640 light-years from Earth. It’s in the final stages of stellar evolution. It used to be a blue-white O-type star, which is the most massive type of main sequence, hydrogen-burning star(source google)
Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars known. It’s about 767 million miles in diameter, which is about 1.2 billion kilometers. This is roughly 764 times the size of the Sun. Betelgeuse is also about 10 to 20 times more massive than the Sun.
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. It’s about 7,500 to 14,000 times brighter than the Sun. Its temperature is about 3,500 K
Yes, Betelgeuse is in the Milky Way galaxy. It’s located in the Orion constellation.
Betelgeuse is one of the most popular stars in the Milky Way. Its size and position in the galaxy make it easier for astronomers to study than most stars.
Betelgeuse is likely to be the Milky Way’s next supernova, but it might not happen for another 100,000 years.
Astronomers estimate that Betelgeuse is about 642.5 light-years away from Earth. However, this estimate is uncertain because it’s difficult to measure distances to such distant objects.
Some other estimates of Betelgeuse’s distance from Earth include:
- 548 light-years
- 600 light-years
- 650 light-years
- 700 light-years
- 724 light-years
Because it takes light from Betelgeuse about 700 years to reach Earth, you’re seeing the star as it was about 700 years ago.
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