Here’s an interesting upcoming Astronomical event you may wish to try to take in. In the early hours of Thu 20 March 2014, an asteroid will pass in front of the bright star Regulus (mag 1.2). This is called an occultation when one object pass in front of another (we also use the term “eclipse” for things like the Moon or Sun).
The cool thing is that this is going to happen fairly close to us in the Hamilton area. Of course this is dependent upon whether the skies are going to be clear or not.
You do need to be close or directly under the path of the occultation. This is essentially the path that the shadow will fall on the surface of the Earth. It won’t be an obvious shadow like a Lunar/Solar eclipse, but it will be the path where you can see the light from Regulus blocked by the asteroid as it passes in front of the star. Too far away and you will only see a dimming (partial obstruction) or nothing of the event. The “totality” will last up to 14 seconds since the asteroid is 72km in length. The closest place for us is the eastern end of Lake Ontario – say near the Kingston area or upper New York state.
With a large telescope, the star will dim from Mag 1.2 to 12.4 (the brightness of the asteroid). But with smaller scopes or just a camera, Regulus will appear to completely “wink out”.
Here are a couple of links with more info, including maps and timings. Make sure you set your watch accurately before venturing out, otherwise you may miss it. (It’s a 2am’ish event) This is an easy event to photograph or film. You could take multiple 1-2 second exposures which should be enough to capture the brighter stars before, during and after the occultation, including the period when Regulus is not visible. If filming, mount to a tripod centered on Regulus and open the aperture as much as possible to get as much light – try a short sequence before to make sure you can get something.
