See the Moon 'Photobomb' Saturn - East Idaho News
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See the Moon ‘Photobomb’ Saturn

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EastIdahoNews.com Staff

East Idaho News

GETTY 8414 Saturn? SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1407181453463Stocktrek Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — On Sunday night, sky-gazers were treated to a dramatic eclipse of Saturn by the moon.

“It’s a cool observational event,” Dr. Bruce Betts, director of Science and Technology at the Planetary Society, told ABC News. “The naked eye could see the rings of Saturn, and could see [the planet] disappear behind the moon and reappear on the other side.”

The event was just one of 13 occultations — what happens when one astronomical object moves in front of another — occurring with Saturn and the moon this year.

“[Occultations] go in spurts,” said Betts. “Every month for the last few months there have been Saturn occultations visible somewhere on the planet.”

Though Monday morning’s occultation could only be seen by those in the Eastern Hemisphere, gazers everywhere were able to experience the astronomical magic through a live stream provided by Slooh Community Observatory.

“It’s quite dramatic when [an occultation] involves a bright photogenic object like Saturn, whose rings are now nearly optimally tilted,” said Slooh astronomer Bob Berman in a press release, also explaining that there will be “striking detail visible on the foreground of the moon and the background planet – a true photobomb moment.”

Check out Twitter users’ footage of the “photobomb”:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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