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A cloud of stardust caused Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars in the night sky, is expected to briefly disappear on Monday.
It will vanish for between seven and 12 seconds for some people, depending on where they are in the world, in what astronomers have called a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ event.
Those living in a narrow part of southern Europe as well as those across the Atlantic Ocean into the Bahamas, southern Florida and part of Mexico will be able to watch.
As the asteroid Leona passes across the star, they should see Betelgeuse grow fainter and nearly disappear.
Asteroids only tend to pass across stars as big as this one in a position visible to people on Earth once every few decades.
The asteroid is expected to block some of the star’s light, but some will likely still filter through and be visible to observatories on Earth.
Preparations to watch the rare event are already underway in parts of Italy and Spain.
Experts have been monitoring Betelgeuse for some time as it’s the tenth brightest star in the sky.
Its fluctuating brightness in recent years did initially spark concerns that it could be close to exploding – but scientists quickly dismissed this.
This said, astronomers are continuing to observe the star and are still trying to work out a lot of details about it, including its size and other key features.
The upcoming ‘disappearance’ of Betelgeuse is a good opportunity to learn more about it, including its size and how charged gas moves around it.
Scientists also hope they’ll be able to capture images of the surface of the bright star so they can understand more about if and how it launches wind into its stellar environment.
The degree of success of this will depend on the weather on Monday though.
It’s hoped that by observing the famous star during this unusual event, astronomers will also be able to learn more about its very large convective cells, which is why it gets brighter then darker for months at a time.
If lucky, experts might also gain more insight into how material that gets launched from giant stars sometimes ends up forming new planets.
As Betelgeuse is so bright, astronomers should only need modest equipment to observe the asteroid passing across the star.
In Cordoba, southern Spain, the mid point of the astrological event is expected to occur at about 1:15:45 am UTC (2:15:45 am local time) on 12 December.
In Florida in the US it’s expected at 8:24:54 pm local time on Sunday evening, 11 December.
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