Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 December 15
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                             Betelgeuse Eclipsed
              Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Sebastian Voltmer

   Explanation: [5]Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on
   December 12, as it [6]passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to
   see everyone's [7]favorite red giant star fade this time, you had to
   stand [8]near the center of the narrow shadow path starting in central
   Mexico and extending eastward across southern Florida, the Atlantic
   Ocean, southern Europe, and Eurasia. The geocentric celestial event is
   captured in these two panels taken at Almodovar del Rio, Spain from
   before (left) and during the asteroid-star occultation. In both panels
   Betelgeuse is seen above and left, at the shoulder of the familiar
   constellation Orion. [9]Its brightness diminishes noticeably during the
   exceedingly rare occultation when, for several seconds, the giant star
   was briefly eclipsed by a roughly 60 kilometer diameter [10]main-belt
   asteroid.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC,
                         [31]NASA Science Activation
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2312/OrionBetelgeuse_occultation.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.voltmer.de/about/
   5. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017MPBu...44...87P/abstract
   6. https://earthsky.org/space/betelgeuse-will-dim-disappear-asteroid-leona-dec-11-12-2023/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200102.html
   8. https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1075-319-83995-648466-H27989
   9. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/asteroid-will-cover-betelgeuse-may-reveal-its-visible-surface/
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231214.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231215
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231216.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/