Moon Occults Saturn
Explanation:
On September 18, 1997, many stargazers
in the U. S. were able to watch a lovely
early morning
lunar occultation as
a bright Moon
passed in front of Saturn.
Using a 1.2 meter reflector, astronomer
Kris Stanek had an
excellent view of this dream-like event from the
Whipple
Observatory atop Arizona's
Mount Hopkins.
This animated gif image was constructed by Wes Colley
from 4 frames taken by Stanek
at 35 second intervals as the ringed planet emerged from behind
the Moon's dark limb.
While lunar occultations of fairly bright stars
and planets are not extremely rare events, their
exact
timing depends critically on the observer's location.
For observers in
western
North America, the Moon will next
occult Saturn on Monday morning,
September 10.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
