Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Fri Dec 15 2023 00:42:48

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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

                             Betelgeuse Eclipsed
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

   Explanation: Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on
   December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to
   see everyone's favorite red giant star fade this time, you had to stand
   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. 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 main-belt
   asteroid.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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