Astronomy: A Far-Out Eclipse

Though men have observed and recorded thousands of lunar and solar eclipses since the beginning of history, no one has ever reported watching one star—other than the sun—eclipse an other. If any scientists have been awaiting such an event, says University of Pittsburgh Physicist Walter Feibelman, they need be patient for only another 22 years. In 1988, he reports in the current issue of Science, the path of star 40 Eridani-A—only 16 light-years from the solar system—should take it directly between the earth and a remote, as yet unnamed star he calls X, which is at least 1,000 light-years...

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