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                           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   
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          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
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