Wednesday, August 21, 2024

The Moon and Saturn in Aquarius

A dispatch this morning from Felton Davis of the Second Avenue Star Watchers. 

For starters, the moonflowers that he planted in June survived the oppressive heat of July. 
The one that blossomed yesterday evening in the cool air was a beautiful prelude to a magical night in which the day-after Full Moon chased the planet Saturn across the heavens ... and it was not easy to get both of them into a single photo. 
Saturn, at about 1 billion miles away, was a tiny jewel whose rings will flatten out by next April, and then it starts a new seven-year cycle of widening. 

Billed by Space News as an occultation, but not in New York City at ground level. And not everyone who stopped by could see the rings, only those who have taken care of their vision health.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Breathtaking!!

Anonymous said...

That is one fantastic photo!! I can see the rings of Saturn there. (The rings are more evident if you enlarge the photo to about 300% of original size.)