Watch a 45-mile-wide asteroid blot out a star tonight

[theHandpuppet]

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/19/giant-asteroid-eclipses-star-tonight-in-rare-celestial-event-how-to-watch-live/

Watch a 45-mile-wide asteroid blot out a star tonight
By Mike Wall/
Published March 19, 2014/
Space.com

An asteroid the size of Rhode Island will briefly blot out one of the brightest stars in the sky overnight tonight (March 19-20), and you can watch the rare celestial event live online, weather permitting.

At around 2:05 a.m. EDT Thursday morning, a 45-mile-wide asteroid 163 Erigone will eclipse Regulus, as seen from a swath of North America, making the 22nd-brightest star in the sky disappear for a few seconds.

This "occultation" will be visible from the ground only to people in a narrow corridor in northeastern North America. However, the online Slooh Space Camera will offer live views of the eclipse during a show that begins at 1:45 a.m. EDT Thursday. You can follow it at www.slooh.com or watch the asteroid-Regulus webcast here, courtesy of Slooh...

..."That's what will happen early Thursday morning," he added. "It’s hard to describe the excitement of this event. Regulus will vanish, and the constellation Leo will temporarily look totally different for as much as 14 seconds, as seen from New York City and about a 100-mile wide path extending to that city’s north and west." MORE

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. reminds me of a recent (rather depressing but remarkable) movie...

Melancholia

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/