News Ticker:
03:00 UT: The news ticker is closed now. Many thanks to all the observers and especially to the organisers on site. Have save trips home.
02:37 UT: Report from Michael O’Connell, observation with Alex Pratt south of Alicante: Skies consisted of variable levels of haze, which made the observation more challenging (and head-wrecking) that I would have liked. The dimming was not sudden like a typical occultation, but rather quite gradual which appeared to take approx 2-3 seconds. The star appeared to dim by approx 1 to 2 magnitudes – quite noticeable. The rise was more difficult to detect visually due to the haze. I was expecting it to remain at its faintest magnitude for a period of time, and was surprised to see it brightening almost immediately after reaching minimum magnitude.
Screenshot of a lightcurve taken with my Watec 910 HX/RC and 40mm f/4.5 apo with Bessel V filter:
02:34 UT: Andreas Dill (IOTA/ES, VVS) on PLANOCCULT: Near chord 28 (west of Alicante) a significant magnitude drop, albeit between cirrus.
02:30 UT: Antoni Selva et al. report from near Alicante, Spain: Observation made by Josep Masalles ,Rafael Quiles and myself. Betelgeuse nearly disappeared totally at naked eye for a moment. Light curve recorded by the team:
02:18 UT: Antonio Piras reports a faint dimming, recorded in Italy.
02:11 UT: Paco Bellido has made video recording. The occultation has been shorter and less intense than expected.
02:05 UT: Thierry Midavaine et al. (Club Eclipse, IOTA/ES) report: Hello from chord 13 north west from alicante. Betelgeuse signal modulated by high altitude clouds. It will be difficult to process…
02:00 UT: Andreas Schweizer (SOTAS, IOTA/ES) has made two recordings:
First light curve, 10fps through 55mm Nikon lens, no filter:
…and a quick overview of 50fps in h-alpha:
01:52 UT: Jiří Kubánek (IOTA/ES) reports a 10 s occultation, recorded close to the centre line in Spain.
01:47 UT: Marek Zawilski (IOTA/ES) presents a prliminary light curve obtained at Sibari, Calabria, Italy.
01:41 UT: Terry Redding (IOTA) in Florida, USA, reports: The clouds won. Betelgeuse was viewable momentarily and then lost. Never able to record the occultation.
01:32 UT: Clouds in Turkey, but a drift scan with a small telescope was recorded. At University of Cagliari, Italy, short dimming was observed.
00:56 UT: The Virtual Telescope Project has cancelled a transmission due to clouds.
00:48 UT: Live streams from Portugal are on air.
00:38 UT: Live coverage from Turkey and Italy has started. The Virtual Telescope Project will follow at 01:00 UT.
2023 Dec 12, 00:03 UT: David Dunham (IOTA) reports on PLANOCCULT: The satellite loop looks terrible for Florida. There are some breaks, and maybe the bright star can shine through some of the clouds, so maybe not hopeless, but close to it. Those with larger scopes who can get on target and track it may have the best chance; probably not much hope for 2 or multi-color observations.
23:40 UT: Andreas Schweizer (SOTAS, IOTA/ES) reports some dense clouds moving across the sky. But everything is still o.k.
22:39 UT: Andreas Schweizer (SOTAS, IOTA/ES) reports perfect weather in Clabria, Italy. Everything is ready!
Latest Updates:
22:28 UT: Links for live coverage from Spain added.
22:20 UT: Weather forecast maps updated.
15:46 UT: Weather forecast maps updated.
Latest infomation about the occultation of Betelgeuse by (319) Leona tonight:
The chords:
A map with the chords provided by Carles Schnabel (IOTA/ES). Red chords have assigned observers already. Black ones are not occupied:
David Dunham (IOTA) provided a map with the stations in Florida:
Check for announced stations Occult Watcher Cloud:
https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1075-319-83995-648466-H27989#
Weather:
(last update 22:20 UT, click on maps for larger image)
Europe:
Latest weather forecasts of cloud coverage for the event from https://www.ventusky.com based on weather model by ICON
High clouds:
Middle clouds:
Low clouds:
USA:
Middle clouds:
The forecast by HRRR shows a strong high cloud cover and some low clouds on the east coast. Compared to the forecast six hours ago the middle cloud cover got more dense along the Florida Keys.
Live coverage of the occultation:
Turkey (~01:10 UT):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RtwSRjgynU
Italy (~01:12 UT):
The Virtual Telescope Project by Gianluca Masi:
The extremely rare Betelgeuse occultation by asteroid (319) Leona: online event – 12 Dec. 2023
or here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/ELQx7SCadM4
Live with a telescope from the University of Cagliari and a special guest, Robert Panai, physicist of the university:
Another link from Italy:
Spain (~01:15 UT):
Live from south of Córdoba by Paisaje Andaluz:
Announcemnet of another live coverage by Sebastian Voltmer:
Portugal (~01:15 UT):
From the south of Portugal by Tiago Ferreira:
Another planned live coverage from Portugal by Diego San Araujo:
One more:
USA (~01:24 UT):
Terry Redding (IOTA) tries to setup a live stream from the Everglades, Florida, USA.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsEwjKoyps_9kfIcMmxLpmg
We wait for confirmation.