Astronomers worldwide are gearing up for a celestial event as the Leona asteroid is set to pass in front of Betelgeuse, one of the most prominent stars in the night sky, creating a unique and fleeting eclipse. The phenomenon is scheduled to unfold late on Monday into early Tuesday and is expected to captivate millions of observers along a narrow path spanning from Tajikistan and Armenia, across Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain, to Miami, the Florida Keys, and parts of Mexico.
Betelgeuse, a red supergiant in the constellation Orion, will experience a momentary disappearance as Leona, a slowly rotating oblong asteroid situated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, moves across its path. Astronomers are eager to seize this opportunity to gather more insights into both Betelgeuse and Leona during the anticipated 15-second eclipse.
A Spanish-led team, drawing from a prior eclipse of a dimmer star by Leona in September, estimated the asteroid to be approximately 34 miles wide and 50 miles long (55km wide and 80km long). However, uncertainties persist regarding these predictions, the size of Betelgeuse, and the extent of its expansive atmosphere. It remains uncertain whether the asteroid will completely obscure the star, resulting in a total eclipse, or if it will produce a “ring of fire” eclipse with a small blazing border around the star. In the event of a total eclipse, the duration of Betelgeuse’s disappearance is unknown, potentially up to 10 seconds.
Astronomer Gianluca Masa, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project, expressed excitement about the uncertainty, stating, “Which scenario we will see is uncertain, making the event even more intriguing.” The Virtual Telescope Project will provide a live webcast from Italy for those unable to witness the eclipse in person.
Betelgeuse, located approximately 700 light-years away, is visible to the naked eye, and observers using binoculars and small telescopes can enhance their viewing experience. Comparatively, Betelgeuse is thousands of times brighter and about 700 times larger than our sun. Aged at just 10 million years, Betelgeuse, due to its mass and rapid material consumption, is anticipated to go supernova in a violent explosion within the next 100,000 years.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
Carlo Juancho FuntanillaFrontend Developer, WordPress, Shopify
Contributing Editor
AMA ACLC San Pablo
