This picture made with the Hubble Space Telescope and launched by NASA on Aug. 10, 2020, exhibits the star Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, a purple supergiant that’s about 700 million gentle years from Earth.

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This picture made with the Hubble Space Telescope and launched by NASA on Aug. 10, 2020, exhibits the star Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, a purple supergiant that’s about 700 million gentle years from Earth.

AP

It will not be your typical eclipse, however a celestial occasion anticipated to happen for a fleeting few moments this week should have you ever star-struck.

An asteroid is slated to go in entrance of the star Betelgeuse and obscure it Monday evening in an occasion identified to astronomers as an occultation.

Experts estimate the uncommon occasion will solely happen for as many as 15 seconds, in accordance with Space.com.

Betelgeuse is a purple supergiant situated roughly 700 light-years from Earth and varieties a part of the constellation Orion. At 10 million years outdated, Betelgeuse is considerably youthful than our solar, but it surely’s additionally about 700 occasions bigger and seven,500 to 14,000 occasions brighter.

The asteroid 319 Leona is almost 50 kilometers extensive and orbits between Mars and Jupiter.

Astronomers say the occultation is greater than a mere sight to behold and will truly present some new insights into each Betelgeuse and Leona.

“This kind of occultations are very useful to constrain the shape of the asteroid involved,” Gianluca Masi, director of the Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project, said in an announcement. “Here, we hope to even investigate the surface of the involved star, too: Betelgeuse.”

Sky & Telescope reports that scientists might also be capable to use the occultation to map the star’s “strangely large convective cells,” which allow it to brighten and dim for months on finish.

The occultation will probably be seen in a slender strip of areas the world over, together with Miami and the Florida Keys in addition to components of Mexico, in accordance with a map on the web site OccultWatcher.

Viewers in components of Europe and Asia also needs to be capable to see the occasion, which is expected to occur at 8:16 EST.

For sky-watchers situated elsewhere, the Virtual Telescope Project plans to host a livestream.