Roma Versus Delta Ophiuchi - Watch While An Asteroid Eats A Star
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 07:29
in Astronomy & Space
You are all familiar with a solar eclipse, when our Moon passes in front of the Sun and blocks its light, but a similar situation can happen with asteroids, those Sun-orbiting, rocky objects left over from the formation of the Solar System or formed by collisions between other asteroids. We know of about 400,000 asteroids, which range in size from a few hundred kilometers to just a few meters. Obviously an asteroid is too small to cover the Sun but because of proximity one will occasionally move directly in front of one of the stars in the night sky and block its light from our view, causing a stellar eclipse or 'occultation'. read more