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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Moon Eclipses Saturn
NASA ^ | July 16, 2014 | (see photo credit)

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.

July 16, 2014

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; eclipse; moon; saturn; science
[Credit & Copyright: Carlos Di Nallo]

1 posted on 07/16/2014 2:18:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; dayglored; ...
The Big One

2 posted on 07/16/2014 2:19:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv

Peek a boo


3 posted on 07/16/2014 2:19:28 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Cool. Who knew the moon cast a big shadow (umbra/penumbra?)


4 posted on 07/16/2014 2:53:25 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: SunkenCiv

That is one cool shot, please keep em coming!


5 posted on 07/16/2014 2:58:48 PM PDT by Lx (Do you like it? Do you like it, Scott? I call it, "Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman Chili.")
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To: SunkenCiv

Man, Saturn is a long, long way away.


6 posted on 07/16/2014 3:06:20 PM PDT by Steely Tom (How do you feel about robbing Peter's robot?)
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To: Steely Tom

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.


7 posted on 07/16/2014 3:17:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: cripplecreek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eglgj77T0rk


8 posted on 07/16/2014 3:18:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Paladin2

Mostly on us. :’)


9 posted on 07/16/2014 3:19:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Lx

As long as Zero doesn’t interdict APoD again, as he did during the “shutdown” (lockout), they’ll keep coming. :’)


10 posted on 07/16/2014 3:21:24 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv
I have a punky little AstroMaster telescope that only cost $100 and can easily make out Saturn and Jupiter and their largest moons.

Looks about as good as this:

Better than any telescope Galileo had, I suppose.

11 posted on 07/16/2014 3:48:40 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
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To: All

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.


12 posted on 07/16/2014 3:55:17 PM PDT by Peter ODonnell (Sectarian warfare -- no dog in that hunt)
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To: SunkenCiv

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.


13 posted on 07/17/2014 7:01:46 AM PDT by TheOldLady
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