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An Asteroid Will Block Our Brightest Star on Monday, And Astronomers Need Your Help
An Asteroid Will Block Our Brightest Star on Monday, And Astronomers Need Your Help
DAVE MOSHER, BUSINESS INSIDER
Sirius, a double-star system and the brightest object in the night sky, will briefly blink out of existence for parts of Earth on Monday evening.
In an event called an occultation – when one object in space blocks the light of another behind it – a small asteroid known as (4388) Jürgenstock will slip in front of the star for a fraction of a second and, like an eclipse, cause it to briefly dim or even disappear.
"This unusual occultation of the brightest star in the night sky will occur around 10:30 p.m. MST on Monday evening, February 18," according to a post by Bill Merline from the Southwest Research Institute and David Dunham from KinetX Aerospace, which was published on the astronomer-run website Occultation Pages.
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More sciency geekery at https://www.sciencealert.com/an-asteroid-will-block-our-brightest-star-on-monday-and-astronomers-need-your-help
