Astrophotos: Occultation of Saturn

By Nancy Atkinson - May 15, 2014 at 4:02 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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Observers in Australia and New Zealand had a special treat this week: watching Saturn disappear behind the Moon during an event called an occultation. (You can read all the details of how and why this happens

here in our preview article.

) Catching an event like this with a camera is tricky... the bright Moon can wash out the comparatively tiny (from our vantage point) planet Saturn. But here, several astrophotographers had success. Above is a nice view from

Silveryway on Flickr

.

See an animation of the event below from

astroblogger Ian Musgrave

:

[caption width="600" align="alignnone"]

An animated gif of the occulation of Saturn by the Moon on May 14, 2014. Credit and copyright: Ian Musgrave. [/caption]

Ian Musgrave from Australia used a 4" Newtonian telescope, with a "Point and Shoot" Canon IXUS attached with inifinty to infinity focussing, 3xZoom, and a 25mm eye piece. You can see his entire set of images

on his website here.

[caption id="attachment_111921" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Widefield view of the occultation of Saturn on May 14, 2014. Credit and copyright: Ian Musgrave. [/caption]

Peter Lake, also from Australia not only took images of the event, but also did a live Hangout on G+.

"Live hangouts and driving a telescope live is a tricky business," Peter wrote on his website. "I lost focus playing around trying to improve the image due to the thin cloud." He added that the night sky wasn't ideal that evening. "The full moon was shining through thin clouds, washing out a bit of the detail."

[caption id="attachment_111918" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Saturn getting ready to head behind the Moon. Credit and copyright: Peter Lake. [/caption]

You can watch a replay of Peter's Hangout below:

[caption id="attachment_111924" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Saturn and the Moon diffusion. The clouds drifted across the sky, Saturn and the Moon shone bright, the view from the UK. Credit and copyright: Sarah and Simon Fisher. [/caption]

Sarah and Simon Fisher from the UK captured this "diffused" view of Saturn close the Moon on the evening of May 13, 2014.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you're giving us permission to post them). Please explain what's in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com