It appears that astronomers are already preparing for the upcoming occultation of 319 Leona with Betelgeuse.
Researchers in this July 2023 presentation note:
> Leona’s Long Rotation Period (430h) complicates determination of its size and shape.
> So it is VERY IMPORTANT that some OTHER occultations by Leona be observed from multiple stations BEFORE December 12, to take best advantage of this unique opportunity.
And there is already at least one other set of observations reported on arXiv from a September 2023 occultation:
> The stellar occultation by (319) Leona on 13 September 2023 in preparation for the occultation of Betelgeuse
> This represents an extraordinary and unique opportunity to analyze the diameter and brightness distribution of Betelgeuse's photosphere with extreme angular resolution by studying the light curve as the asteroid occults the star from different points on Earth and at different wavelengths. Here we present observations of another occultation by Leona on 13 September 2023 to determine its projected shape and size in preparation for the December 12th event.
That's quite the slow tumble. Back in high school a person in the area with a big fancy computerized telescope let a bunch of us physics students come up to do experiments. My partner and I decided to try to plot light curves for some famous asteroids and we were able to confirm that they were still rotating as last observed over periods that let us do this overnight.
> On 12 December 2023 at about 01:09–01:27 UT, Leona will occult Betelgeuse as seen from southern Europe, Turkey, Greece and Sicily.[14] The 14th magnitude asteroid will occult Betelgeuse (block or reduce the light) for about 12 seconds. Betelgeuse is expected to dim by about 3 magnitudes.[16] Light curve studies of the event may help understand the distribution of brightness over the disk of Betelgeuse.
Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star. It's dimming by a factor of ~16, but will still be visible, which surprises me. Does anyone know whether this is because (a) Betelgeuse's diffuse disc is wider than the asteroid's, (b) Betelgeuse will refract around the asteroid, or (c) something else? I'm guessing (b) but don't know much about this.
Asteroids are very valuable targets in the solar system. It's because they're low delta vee to get to, and don't require high thrust since they don't have a deep and steep gravity well. This means electric propulsion can be used. Trip times might be long though.
One could extract materials from asteroids and bring them anywhere in space with low delta vee budgets.
murphyslab|2 years ago
Researchers in this July 2023 presentation note:
> Leona’s Long Rotation Period (430h) complicates determination of its size and shape.
> So it is VERY IMPORTANT that some OTHER occultations by Leona be observed from multiple stations BEFORE December 12, to take best advantage of this unique opportunity.
[0] https://occultations.org/publications/rasc/2023/2023Dec12Leo...
And there is already at least one other set of observations reported on arXiv from a September 2023 occultation:
> The stellar occultation by (319) Leona on 13 September 2023 in preparation for the occultation of Betelgeuse
> This represents an extraordinary and unique opportunity to analyze the diameter and brightness distribution of Betelgeuse's photosphere with extreme angular resolution by studying the light curve as the asteroid occults the star from different points on Earth and at different wavelengths. Here we present observations of another occultation by Leona on 13 September 2023 to determine its projected shape and size in preparation for the December 12th event.
[1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.12272
(Amazing that it was posted ~8 days after the observations were made!)
russdill|2 years ago
Symmetry|2 years ago
higgins|2 years ago
jessriedel|2 years ago
Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star. It's dimming by a factor of ~16, but will still be visible, which surprises me. Does anyone know whether this is because (a) Betelgeuse's diffuse disc is wider than the asteroid's, (b) Betelgeuse will refract around the asteroid, or (c) something else? I'm guessing (b) but don't know much about this.
tedunangst|2 years ago
Gravityloss|2 years ago
One could extract materials from asteroids and bring them anywhere in space with low delta vee budgets.
swayvil|2 years ago
Nevermind. It's a C-type asteroid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-type_asteroid
A chunk of coal mixed with pebbles
EwanG|2 years ago