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It is not every day that the sky above calls us residents on the ground with a dazzling light show. This year we were good at Colorful meteor showers More than one opportunity, but Mother Nature has another tip in her round before 2023. Depending on Sky and telescope , next week, Stargazers and Constellation Chasers will have the opportunity to attend a very rare event in the sky, because Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars, will temporarily disappear.

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The Supergiant Red Star "flashes briefly" when it becomes "hidden" (or blocked) by the asteroid 319 Leona, as explained by Live science . Betelgeuse can be spotted on the Orion right shoulder , and is considered the second most brilliant star of the constellation, as well as the 10th brightest star in the atmosphere.

The very unusual event will only last 12 seconds and should take place on Monday, December 11, around 8:17 p.m. is, according to Sky & Telescope.

In addition, only some spectators along a very narrow path "extending from Asia to southern Europe, Florida and eastern Mexico" will be able to observe the flashing without twins or telescope, by science in direct. However, thanks to the virtual telescope project, you can also watch the event take place in real time Via Livestream .

The organization, which is based in Italy and will have a perfect vision of the show, will start the Livestream at 8 p.m. Is December 11. In the meantime, the visibility track of the occultation can be downloaded from the International Occultation Timing Association website .

In order to locate Betelgeuse in the night sky of the northern hemisphere, you will want to face the east about two hours after sunset, as indicated by Live Science. The trio of stars of the Orion belt will be the easiest to spot first: Altak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Betelgeuse can be seen on the same horizon line as Mintaka, on the left.

The brief disappearance of Betelgeuse will not only be exciting for us to testify - it will also have practical applications for astronomers. Experts hope to know more about the surface of Betelgeuse, as well as on the shape and size of the asteroid 319 Leona.

"This type of occultation is very useful for limiting the form of the asteroid involved", " Gianluca Masi , astrophysicist and director of The virtual telescope project , said in a press release.

"We hope that we can know more about its large convective cells, which stimulates its variable brightness," concluded Masi.

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