Asteroid will pass in front of bright star Betelgeuse to produce a rare eclipse visible to millions

One of many largest and brightest stars within the evening sky will momentarily vanish as an asteroid passes in entrance of it to supply a one-of-a-kind eclipse.

The uncommon and fleeting spectacle, late Monday into early Tuesday, must be seen to hundreds of thousands of individuals alongside a slim path stretching from central Asia’s Tajikistan and Armenia, throughout Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain, to Miami and the Florida Keys and eventually, to components of Mexico.

The star is Betelgeuse, a purple supergiant within the constellation Orion. The asteroid is Leona, a slowly rotating, rectangular space rock in the primary asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Astronomers hope to study extra about Betelgeuse and Leona by way of the eclipse, which is predicted to final not more than 15 seconds. By observing an eclipse of a a lot dimmer star by Leona in September, a Spanish-led staff not too long ago estimated the asteroid to be about 34 miles extensive and 50 miles lengthy (55 kilometers extensive and 80 kilometers lengthy).

There are lingering uncertainties over these predictions in addition to the dimensions of the star and its expansive ambiance. It is unclear if the asteroid will obscure the whole star, producing a total eclipse. Slightly, the outcome may very well be a “ring of fireside” eclipse with a miniscule blazing border across the star. If it is a total eclipse, astronomers aren’t certain what number of seconds the star will disappear fully, maybe as much as 10 seconds.

“Which situation we are going to see is unsure, making the occasion much more intriguing,” stated astronomer Gianluca Masa, founding father of the Digital Telescope Undertaking, which is able to present a dwell webcast from Italy.

An estimated 700 light-years away, Betelgeuse is seen with the bare eye. Binoculars and small telescopes will improve the view. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.

Betelgeuse is 1000’s of occasions brighter than our sun and a few 700 occasions larger. It is so big that if it changed our sun, it might stretch past Jupiter, in line with NASA.

At simply 10 million years outdated, Betelgeuse is significantly youthful than the 4.6 billion-year-old sun. Scientists count on Betelgeuse to be short-lived, given its mass and the pace at which it is burning by way of its materials.

After numerous centuries of various brightness, Betelgeuse dimmed dramatically in 2019 when an enormous bunch of floor materials was ejected into space. The ensuing dust cloud briefly blocked the starlight, NASA stated, and inside a half yr, Betelgeuse was as shiny as earlier than.

Scientists count on Betelgeuse to go supernova in a violent explosion inside 100,000 years.

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