Complex Numbers

It's Not Beetlejuice

I know I just said I'd try to avoid articles while I'm traveling, but then I saw this one. Not random, but time-sensitive, and since I think it's cool, I'm sharing it.

    Iconic Star Betelgeuse Will Temporarily Vanish From the Sky Next Week  
In a rare cosmic event, an asteroid will eclipse Betelgeuse on December 11, causing a brief but significant disappearance of this bright, red star.

As is so often the case, the headline is misleading. The subhead, a bit less so. Fortunately, the article doesn't seem to be as sensationalist.

The bright star Betelgeuse, a prominent member of the Orion constellation, is set to be occulted by the asteroid Leona on December 11.

Of course I know Betelgeuse. As with many people, it was probably the first star whose name I knew. Well, other than that of the accursed daystar. It's not exactly pronounced "beetlejuice," but close enough to make kids cackle.

I don't think I've ever heard of Leona, though. A quick search tells me it was discovered over a century ago, and no one knows who it's named after. I'm betting it was a girl on whom the discovering astronomer had a crush, as the astronomer in question was very French.

This occurrence, expected to last no more than 10 seconds, will cause the star to temporarily vanish from sight, a phenomenon visible along a narrow path on Earth.

Of course, this is analogous to a solar eclipse, but the eclipsing body is further away from us than the Moon, and the star is WAY further away from us than the Sun.

The path of totality, where the occultation will be observable, stretches across a narrow band starting near Guadalajara, Mexico, and extends through south Florida, the Bahamas, southern parts of Spain and Italy, through to regions in Greece, Turkey, and central Asia.

So, not a lot of opportunity for most of us to see the "eclipse." The link includes a path map.

This event is not only a treat for stargazers but also a significant opportunity for scientists. Betelgeuse, a red supergiant approximately 550 light-years from Earth, is famous for its size, luminosity, and a penchant for confusing astronomers with sudden and unpredictable drops in brightness.

But mostly, it's famous for its name.

The article goes into why this is scientifically useful, but really, I'm just writing about it because it's so damn cool, and I wish I were in a position to see it.

Don't worry if it disappears, though. I'm sure it'll reappear if we all say its name three times.