Sunday, April 04, 2010

gassy old star to be eclipsed!

from la to alberta, faces will turn to the heavens to catch a glimpse of zeta opaiuchi blink out for a moment then reappear. this bit of celestial slight of hand is brought to us by the nimble little asteroid anastasia. she'll be scooting herself between the earth and the runaway o blue-white star to make it appear to disappear for a predicted 8 seconds. naked eye viewing of their performance is limited to a 25 mile swath beginning in the the los angles area at around 3:34 am PDT. her performance will be viewable across the mojave, idaho, montana and on into alberta. non-astronomers as well as those who know their way around a telescope can enjoy this spectacle as well as participate in reporting their observations.

detailed info on the paths and times of this asteroid occultation can be found at http://www.asteroidoccultation.com as well as a spiffy faq about what an it is remember to keep your eye on zeta opaiuchi in another 4 billion years when it goes super nova! no word on anasatsia's future plans.

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