I teamed up with Michael O'Connell to observe this pro-am occultation event from El Plantio Golf Resort where the accommodation includes private rooftop terraces, ideal for amateur astronomers. This preliminary light curve was obtained using a QHY174M-GPS camera, 135mm lens and red filter, using SharpCap Pro to record at 50 fps.

The night of Dec 10/11 was very clear but on the key night we had bands of thin cirrus cloud with intermittent clear spells. It was clear about one hour before the occultation, then the sky quality degraded again, yet Betelgeuse was still visible at almost 60 deg altitude.

We set our systems recording for a 4-minute period centred on the predicted mid-time then observed Orion with the naked eye. Thin patchy cloud was moving across the constellation. It was fascinating to see Betelgeuse fading over 3 or 4s, as if someone had used a dimmer switch - Orion looked strange without his 'shoulder' star because Betelgeuse was now fainter than Bellatrix and the belt stars - then its return to full brightness was less distinct (because of the haze / thin cloud).

This 'once in a lifetime' event lasted about 7s and was a great experience. The data from tens of observers will be used to model this red supergiant star.