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uranologist enjoy the splendor of August’s"Sturgeon Moon " — which is also a blue supermoon — on Aug. 20 may have notice something peculiar : a planet disappear from the sky .
In the wee minute of the dawn , the moon occulted — or entirely passed in front of — the bright planetSaturn , appearing to snuff the ringed world ’s light for more than an time of day . The rarelunar occultation of Saturnwas seeable only from parts of South America , Europe and Africa . But if you missed it , do n’t vex — astrophotographerJosh Durymanaged to enamour the intact event from his perch in Somerset , England .
August’s full Sturgeon Moon, which was also a blue supermoon, occulted Saturn for more than an hour on Aug. 20-21, snuffing the ringed planet’s light from the sky.
take between roughly 4 and 5:30 a.m. local time ( 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. EDT ) , Dury ’s image combines 30 individual shots into a single epic time lapse that chart the full course of the lunar occultation . Saturn ’s rings are understandably seeable as the major planet slides behind the northwestern limb of the full moon , reappearing in the east about an 60 minutes after . Although the two objects come along to share the same bandage of sky , Saturn is in fact hundreds of jillion of miles farther away , make the occultation a cosmic visual delusion standardised to asolar eclipse .
The lunar month appears particularly great and shining right now because it ’s a supermoon — a full moon orbiting within 90 % of its close point to Earth , also called perigee . At perigee , the moonshine can come out about 15 % bigger in diameter than it does at its farthest gunpoint from Earth ( apogee ) and can look noticeably brighter as well , according toNASA . August ’s full moon is the first of four consecutive supermoons , giving skywatchers plenty of chances to value our lunar companion this fall . Make certain you have a pair ofstargazing binocularsor agood small telescopeto get the most out of the lunation ’s upcoming close - ups .
Related : The 10 best stargazing effect of 2024
The complete lunar occultation of Saturn, captured by astrophotographer Josh Dury
If you lack the eclipse of Saturn this week , you may have a luck to blemish the next one in September , depending on where you live on . In the early hour of Sept. 17 , the moon will again appear to bolt up the band planet . This clip , viewers in parts of Australia and the westerly United States will have the good view , according toIn-the-Sky.org .
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— research worker want to build ' streetlights ' on the moon — and they ’d be taller than the Statue of Liberty
This has been a busy calendar month for stargazer , withvibrant auroras , aplanetary conjunctionand thePerseid meteor showerall fire up up the Nox sky . Just one week ago , Dury trekked to the astronomically appropriate site of Stonehenge to capture scads of " shooting star " falling over the ancient monument , where he convey anothergorgeous composite imageof the blazing sky show .
There are still plenty of skywatching effect to add up in 2024 , include some ofthe year ’s best meteor showers . So get out , search up and enjoy .
May ’s full ' Flower Moon ' will be a micromoon . Here ’s how to watch it come up .
April ’s full ' Pink Moon ' rises this weekend — here ’s how to see it , and why it ’s so special
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