[HN Gopher] 319 Leona
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       319 Leona
        
       Author : EdwinHoksberg
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2023-11-14 20:22 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
        
       | EwanG wrote:
       | Is this as a heads up due to it's upcoming occultation of
       | Betelgeuse or...?
        
       | higgins wrote:
       | > On 12 December 2023 Leona will occult Betelgeuse as seen from
       | southern Europe.
        
       | murphyslab wrote:
       | 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.
       | 
       | [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!)
        
       | Gravityloss wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | swayvil wrote:
         | what is this particular asteroid made of? Iron?
         | 
         | Nevermind. It's a C-type asteroid.
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-type_asteroid
         | 
         | A chunk of coal mixed with pebbles
        
       | Symmetry wrote:
       | 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.
        
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       (page generated 2023-11-14 23:01 UTC)