Observation by Alex Pratt: (319) Leona occults Betelgeuse

Uploaded by

Alex Pratt

Observer

Alex Pratt

Observed

2023 Dec 12 - 01:15

Uploaded

2023 Dec 15 - 16:55

Objects

Betelgeuse
319 Leona

Equipment

Canon EOS 500D DSLR in video mode - 50mm f/2 Vivitar lens

Exposure

20 fps - 1280x720 format - ISO 1600 - (Auto might have overuled this)

Location

El Plantio Golf Resort, Alicante

Target name

(319) Leona occults Betelgeuse

Title

(319) Leona occults Betelgeuse

About this image

Whilst the QHY174M-GPS camera with 135mm lens and R filter was recording the event I triggered my Canon EOS 500D to take a simple memento video of Orion. Tests in a clear sky showed that at 20 fps and 2 stops compensation it could record mag 2 stars, but the thin cirrus cloud thwarted this video limiting mag and the camera might have ignored my selection of 1600 ISO.

The MOV file has been converted to MP4 and animated GIF - tussling with some free software and avoiding ones which want to watermark the results -so it's not my finest hour but it gives an impression of the occultation.

There's a hot pixel on the RHS, otherwise the video shows how Betelgeuse almost rivals Rigel, then for a few seconds its brightness dropped to below that of Bellatrix and the belt stars, before returning to its previous magnitude. (The checkerboard background is an artefact that appeared after uploading to the webpage).

Files associated with this observation

(319) Leona_aORI_20231212_011512_ARP.gif (1.1 MB)

Like this image

Alan Thomas, Peter Mulligan, Graham Winstanley, Philip Denyer, Richard Miles, Geof Lewis, Steve Knight

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