Massive Asteroid 319 Leona to Eclipse Red Giant Star Betelgeuse - Extremely Rare Celestial Event

Get ready for the best and brightest asteroid occultation ever predicted. The massive asteroid 319 Leona will briefly eclipse the bright naked-eye giant star Betelgeuse. 319 Leona is a dark asteroid and tumbling slow rotator from the outermost regions of the asteroid belt. Leona has an oblong shape with dimensions 80 x 55 km, whereas most predictions of the occultation assume the asteroid to be spherical. Leona’s odd shape, plus the fact that it is rotating, could produce some surprises. The occultation path may be wider than expected, and there could be interesting “partial eclipse“ effects visible even near the center of the path. On Dec. 11th (USA) and 12th (Europe), main belt asteroid Leona will pass directly in front of Betelgeuse, a first-magnitude star in the shoulder of Orion. Millions of people in a narrow path stretching from South Florida to Italy and Greece can look up and see the red giant dim or even vanish. There are huge population centers in the occultation path, especially in south Florida where Leona’s shadow crosses Miami and Fort Lauderdale. For observers there, Betelgeuse will wink out for about 10 seconds on the evening of Dec. 11th just before 8:25 pm Eastern Standard Time. In Europe, the occultation happens on Dec. 12th between 1:10 UT and 1:16 UT. Thanks for watching! #Betelgeuse #Leona #occultationevent Images credit: ESO, ESA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, nemesis maturity channel Music credit: YouTube Audio Library