Colin Legg caught an amazing thing on camera a couple of days ago. In the cobalt-coloured sky above Australia, this amateur astrophotographer managed to capture the exact moment that the moon passed in front of Saturn. Did you know you could see those rings from so far away?
The event itself is known as an occultation. No, that term does not refer to witchcraft but simply the act of one celestial body passing in front of another and blocking it from view. It’s like an eclipse’s big brother. Occultations happen once or twice a year in our sky, though this particular combination of the moon and Saturn is more rare since the two bodies orbit on slightly different planes.
Rare or not, it’s a beautiful sight to behold. Be sure to check out more of Legg’s photography on his website, and you can keep up with astronomical events happening this year with this calendar.