Posted on 07/16/2014 2:18:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: What happened to half of Saturn? Nothing other than Earth's Moon getting in the way. As pictured above on the far right, Saturn is partly eclipsed by a dark edge of a Moon itself only partly illuminated by the Sun. This year the orbits of the Moon and Saturn have led to an unusually high number of alignments of the ringed giant behind Earth's largest satellite. Technically termed an occultation, the above image captured one such photogenic juxtaposition from Buenos Aires, Argentina that occurred early last week. Visible to the unaided eye but best viewed with binoculars, there are still four more eclipses of Saturn by our Moon left in 2014. The next one will be on August 4 and visible from Australia, while the one after will occur on August 31 and be visible from western Africa at night but simultaneously from much of eastern North America during the day.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit & Copyright: Carlos Di Nallo]
Peek a boo
Cool. Who knew the moon cast a big shadow (umbra/penumbra?)
That is one cool shot, please keep em coming!
Man, Saturn is a long, long way away.
Years ago the local astronomy club had their open house, and I got to view Saturn during a “close” pass, and the scope was a Celestron C-11.
Saturn was identifiable because of its rings, but very little detail could be discerned.
Mostly on us. :’)
As long as Zero doesn’t interdict APoD again, as he did during the “shutdown” (lockout), they’ll keep coming. :’)
Looks about as good as this:
Better than any telescope Galileo had, I suppose.
Some readers may misunderstand. What is pictured is not a shadow of the Moon or anything else falling on Saturn. You can see the illuminated part of the Moon but to its right is a dark portion that blends into the dark background of space. Saturn is pictured partly hidden by the darkened portion of the Moon. An observer on Saturn (more likely on one of its moons) would see (in a telescope) our Moon as a partly illuminated crescent in front of the earth with similar light and dark areas.
Now that is an interesting eclipse. The Moon is half-way through moving between a point on the Earth and Saturn.
Usually, when the Moon is not full, Earth light will illuminate the dark part, but that is certainly not the case here.
It’s quite spectacular. Makes me wish that I had bought that old You-Bild-It telescope 20 years ago, LOL!
Not that it would do me much good here in Ohio, which is the second-cloudiest state in the Union.
Anyway, thank you for posting it, Mr. Civilizations.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.