The star Betelgeuse is obscured by the asteroid. look at the pictures

As reported Digital lookA rare astronomical event could be observed on Monday night (11) in the skies of some parts of the world. On that occasion, an asteroid passed in front of the interesting red star Betelgeuse, from Earth’s perspective, blocking it from view for about 15 seconds – a phenomenon called occultation.

Let’s understand:

• Betelgeuse is the largest star known to astronomers, other than the Sun;
• It also ranks tenth in the night sky;
• It is located on the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and is distinguished by its red color.
• It has been observed in recent years that this star has become noticeably brighter and fainter.
• It is suspected that it could explode as a supernova between a few decades and 100,000 years;
• Last night, it was obscured by an asteroid, in an event considered “an exceptional and unique opportunity.”
• Many photos of this phenomenon were shared on social media on Tuesday (12).

The person responsible for the occultation of Betelgeuse is asteroid 319 Leona, a main belt body that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Roughly egg-shaped, this space rock is about 80 x 55 km in size.

on Recent studyAstronomers referred to the event as an “unusual and unique opportunity” to analyze Betelgeuse’s photosphere, the visible layer of the star from which it emits most of its energy.

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Watch the star Betelgeuse be occulted by the asteroid Leona

The occultation of the star Betelgeuse was only visible along a narrow path extending from central to eastern Mexico to southern Florida. After the path crossed the Atlantic Ocean, the event became visible from southern Europe and Eurasia.

At some of these points, visibility was difficult due to cloudy weather The live broadcast has been cancelled For the virtual telescope project in Italy, for example.

We’ve selected some interesting records of the event posted on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube: