Re-2: [meteorite-list] Stellar Eclipse in the Americas Now!

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

Hi Doug, Jerry, and List,

> Thanks once more for the heads up Doug. 
> Unfortunately we're socked-in in the
> northeast. 

Doug wrote:

> The bottom line is that in the next few
> hours, the Moon will be occulting Antares ...

Well, Jerry, a glimpse at the Sky & Telescope article in the July
issue, pp.66-67, shows that it wouldn't have been an occultation
for you - nor would it have been a "spectacular graze" for you as
you live in Plymouth, Massachusetts where the path of Antares is
slightly north of the Moon's northern limb.

By the way, Antares is the 15th brightest star in the sky and it is a
supergiant star, about 700 times (!) the size of our Sun but its mass
is probably not over 10 to 15 times that of the Sun, and the resulting
density is thus much less than a millionth of the density of the Sun.
The surface temperature is a relatively cool 3100°K (i.e. colder than
our Sun).

Reference:

Robert Burnham Jr. (1978) Burnham's
Celestial Handbook, Vol. 3, pp. 1645-1729.


Best wishes,

Bernd