Betelgeuse star to vanish Monday night: Where and how to watch the rare eclipse
The large, red star is having a particularly spectacular 15-second eclipse this week as an asteroid passes acorss orion’s belt.
The US has been spoilt by a numer of solar and lunar eclipses in 2023, but the next will be in front a a different star. Betelgeuse is a thousand times brighter than the sun but an asteroid passing in front of it will temporarily block it from vision.
“For a very short time, we will see the legendary Orion constellation without its famous, orange shoulder, as it will be in the distant future, once Betelgeuse will have exploded as a supernova and faded to black,” according to the Virtual Telescope Project.
The eclipse will only last a maximum of 15 seconds. It will be visible on the night of 11 December with Florida being the best place to see it in person. Other options to watch the eclipse are on the Virtual Telescope Project.
The Betelgeuse star in more detail
It is a red supergiant star located in the constellation Orion. It’s one of the brightest stars in the night sky and is easily visible to the naked eye. It’s one of the most luminous stars in the night sky and is known for its variability in brightness; sometimes become even brighter than Rigel, Orion’s brightest star.
However, the massive star that has exhausted the nuclear fuel in its core. The star is expected to end its life in a supernova explosion, but the explosion won’t be seen for another 100,000 years.
The star has a distinct reddish color, which is characteristic of a cool, red supergiant. In terms of size, it is one of the largest known stars, with a diameter estimated to be about 1,000 times that of the Sun.
The distance to Betelgeuse is estimated to be around 700 light-years from Earth.