The Moon & Saturn

[JuZ]

Was just out taking a shot of the moon when I noticed someone poking their head out from behind the moon, who should it be but Saturn :)

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/juz13/Moon/MoonSaturn.jpg

[IpsoPhatso]

Is that real? If it is, it is one of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. (No exaggeration) It's amazing the relative scale that is shown... The moon which is 1/6th of the size of the Earth is in a HUGE sky, but looks as small as a quarter... Then, in this zoomed in shot, where the moon is about the size of a softball, Saturn, a planet that is 4578 times larger than the moon, is about the size of a kernel of corn... My goodness.

If it's photoshopped, then forget all that. Although it's still cool. ;)

[willy b]

Is that real? If it is, it is one of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. (No exaggeration) It's amazing the relative scale that is shown... The moon which is 1/6th of the size of the Earth is in a HUGE sky, but looks as small as a quarter... Then, in this zoomed in shot, where the moon is about the size of a softball, Saturn, a planet that is 4578 times larger than the moon, is about the size of a kernel of corn... My goodness.

If it's photoshopped, then forget all that. Although it's still cool. ;)

what he said:cool:

[KAS]

I agree.....very cool photo. I sure hope it's real. That's amazing definition on saturn!

[JuZ]

Of course it's real!

[olly_k]

That is absolutely stunning Juz. Well done!

[IpsoPhatso]

Of course it's real!

Then my friend, in my opinion, you've captured an amazing moment in time. Seriously, I can't stop looking at the relativity in size between the two... It's breathtaking.

[blam]

WOW!

amazing.

[JuZ]

I'm as amazed as you are, I've just been looking and found this http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/myspace/nightsky/observingnotes.shtml
seems I accidentally managed to be outside at almost exactly the right time :)

[mnealtx]

Is that real? If it is, it is one of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. (No exaggeration) It's amazing the relative scale that is shown... The moon which is 1/6th of the size of the Earth is in a HUGE sky, but looks as small as a quarter... Then, in this zoomed in shot, where the moon is about the size of a softball, Saturn, a planet that is 4578 times larger than the moon, is about the size of a kernel of corn... My goodness.

If it's photoshopped, then forget all that. Although it's still cool. ;)

Saturn is also (roughly) 3100 times further away than the moon...

[acorean]

So cool.

[BearSummer]

Very nice shot Juz,

Do you care to tell us what you shot it with and what settings you used.

Just to clarify the moon has 1/6 the gravity of earth (0.1654g) however I'm not sure that saying it is 1/6 if the size is overly accurate.

earth vs moon
mean radius = 6.37 vs 1.74 (1000 km)
mass = 5.97*10^24kg vs 7.35*10^22kg

and I have no idea where you are getting this 4578 times larger.

Wiki earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth)
Wiki moon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon)
Wiki saturn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn)

All that aside, a very nice picture.

Regards

BearSummer

[pcollyer]

Wonderful shot. I too would be interested in the specs. if you're willing to share. Color me green with envy!

[R Hardman]

Spectacular shot!

[MagicallyDelicious]

OH MY GOD.

It so doesnt look real and thats what makes it so wonderful.

[webcrawlur]

amazing.....:eek:

[IpsoPhatso]

Very nice shot Juz,

Do you care to tell us what you shot it with and what settings you used.

Just to clarify the moon has 1/6 the gravity of earth (0.1654g) however I'm not sure that saying it is 1/6 if the size is overly accurate.

earth vs moon
mean radius = 6.37 vs 1.74 (1000 km)
mass = 5.97*10^24kg vs 7.35*10^22kg

and I have no idea where you are getting this 4578 times larger.

Wiki earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth)
Wiki moon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon)
Wiki saturn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn)

All that aside, a very nice picture.

Regards

BearSummer

Well, a mathematician I am not; but I got the 4578 number by taking Saturn's volume, which the site says is 763 Earths. So with my "Moon = 1/6 Earth" Mindset, I multiplied 763 by 6 and got 4578. Perhaps I used the wrong numbers and formula... But the arithmetic is correct. :p

Regardless, Saturn is many times larger than Earth or the Moon, and it appears tiny, yet still detailed, in this wonderful pic.

[RadAL]

WOW.

[ronmayhew]

Just to add my amazement at this great shot!

Thank you for sharing.

[ebann]

OMGosh!!! That's one big piece of DIRT on your sensor! Clean it fast before you start seeing things that aren't really there!

(Great photo! What lens and stats did you use?)

[cynbene]

Truly amazing!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!

[Samdiver74]

JUZ
I went out and took a picture of the moon and Saturn can be seen to the right of it.
I went and had a look at the image zoomed in and then I cropped etc I was shooting with a 20D and Sigma 70 - 300 lens maxed at 300mm all I could see was a dot of light to the right.
But once I cropped in a little I could kind of make Saturn out.
That is an excellent shot.
great stuff.

[ShootMeToo]

This is such an amazing photo.

[Naturalist]

You have got to be making money off this one!
Excellent shot!

[johnstoy]

I see it... I see it... Can't believe how real, reality is...
Wow... that is way cool... I'm most impressed...

Also impressed with those big lenses in your gear list... Awesome...

Thanks for sharing...

[jdmsds]

AMAZING SHOT, one of the best i've seen

[kelstar]

Great shot.

[I Like It Sideways]

Amazing capture!!!

[-Pleiades-]

wow, very cool!

Do you have a 100% crop of saturn, I'd love to get a closer look.

[bishop13]

Awesome shot! I getting Saturn from the Yosemite Valley this past weekend, but all I got was a blob with a bulge on the sides (rings) :(

[Mr. Ed]

Can we get a 100% crop of saturn? That's such an awesome photo, well done.

[JuZ]

Thanks everyone :D

The Moon and Saturn shot was taken with my 20D + 300-800mm (@800mm) + 1.4x TC

f/14, 1/13th sec, ISO100

Here's an unsharpened 100% crop of the original.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a20/juz13/Moon/100.jpg

[zul]

Oh my... That is such an amazing shot.

[SuzyView]

I opened this thread up on my old monitor and really didn't see anything. Then read on and people were raving. Ran to the other computer with the Dell LCD and it showed up beautifully. That is a WOW shot if I have ever seen one. What are the chances? Great capture!

[madferrit]

WOW! I really need to invest in some long glass.

Thanks for sharing your EXIF. I was speaking to a friend about it last night but wasn't sure what planet it is.

[popolz]

WOW! Great shot!

[JuZ]

Thanks :D I'm glad you like it, I'm really pleased with it :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

That's really cool Justin! Wow!
Glad to see the Siggy has worked out :)

[qhorses]

Very cool shot!

[SingingSabre]

Too effin' cool!

[Jamie Holladay]

Very nice!

[BearLeeAlive]

Wow, that is cool. While on a canoeing trip last weekend (Saturday night) we saw a stationary satellite just below the moon. I wonder if Saturn is what we saw.

[jdmsds]

seriously contact Sigma with this one........ i could see this as a Sigma advertisement in a magazine....

[rogez]

Definetely a good picture. Coming from an astronomical background I dont get to enthusiasted with the pic although I have to admit its a great picture to be taken with a regular camera lens. Keep up the good work, Roge

[wrxflame]

I had to see what all the fuss was about given the number of replies....I'm glad a came it's a wonderful image.

[theflyingkiwi]

you know I have always thought that saturn was bigger than the moon. Ohh well it goes to show you how much I know ;)

that's a cool shot. You don't get much of an opportunely for shots like that

[Cleo199]

Incredible!

[forsakenme720]

Awww man! I saw this the other day (yesterday, right?) while driving. (the moon next to saturn) but I forget to get out my camera when I got home... figures. Amazing shot by the way!

[YosemiteJunkie]

Thanks :D I'm glad you like it, I'm really pleased with it :)
What time of night was it when you took the shot? After I originaly saw your post of it I ran out to try my hand. It was 11pm here.

[4hero]

Amazing shot, well done! The moon has been amazing the last few nights, I got a few shots myself but missed Saturn though :confused:

[JuZ]

What time of night was it when you took the shot? After I originaly saw your post of it I ran out to try my hand. It was 11pm here.
That shot was taken at 21:22 according to my camera, I think the clock is right on it ;)

[koraytaylan]

stunning shot
what a coincidence!
so sharp and clear
congratulations

[the_incubus]

Wah Wah wee Wah! What a great photo. You should def. get this published or something, make some money off this shot.:lol:


you know I have always thought that saturn was bigger than the moon. Ohh well it goes to show you how much I know ;)

that's a cool shot. You don't get much of an opportunely for shots like that

Saturn is much farther away thats why it looks so small compared to the moon.


Izak

[Lil Light]

That is like AMAZING!!! I can't stop looking at it! That is probably one of the best pictures i have ever seen!! i dont think i have ever seen a picture like this!! That is just... wow! i dont know how to describe how i feel.. o my gosh!!!!!!

[Monkeymicra]

cool shot, send it to sigma see if you can make some cash off of it

[asolie]

That is sooo cool! Great capture!! :D

[dgcorner]

Fantastic timing... great capture.

[PhotoJourno]

I am intrigued as to the exposure rule that seems to be bent in this image. The moon is not over exposed, yet the light coming from Saturn is so dim, and travels such a distance...

But the end result is genious. However you got to it, the moon is feeling like a million bucks, and Saturn is pretty jealous.
:)

Edit:
Below is a super-saturated version. The green/yellow dots of stray light form a random pattern all over the photo. Had saturn been pasted, there would be some yellow dots missing. Your photo is starting to grow on me !!

[S-S]

this is way cool
and remember saturn (and jupiter and venus) are the 3 brightest star-like (subjective viewpoint here, of course i know they are not actually star-like) objects in the sky, so perhaps the exposure is consistent with that reality
i had a small telescope a few years ago, we used to look at saturn thru it and it looked like that but a bit smaller and harder to make out the rings (the telescope was a lesser magnification than that combo of lenses)

[momentz]

Holy WOW from me. Definitely get this published.

[Learn & Grow]

EXIF:

Camera Make: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 20D
Image Date: 2007:05:22 21:21:09
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 800.0mm
CCD Width: 3.42mm
Exposure Time: 0.077 s (1/13)
Aperture: f/14.0
ISO equiv: 100
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual

[woollyback]

JuZ,

Wow what a shot - it gets better everytime I look at it.

Worth getting the Sigmonster for just that one shot.

Brilliant

Rob

[wakko]

wow that's unreal! :) fantastic shot! :)

[AeroSmith]

LOL, just my luck, I spent an hour this morning working on some moon shots I took last night at 840mm. I just logged on to the forum to post one and I find this incredible shot. I don't think I'll be posting my shot today. :rolleyes:

What an amazing capture Juz. You've really got something here. And now you've got me researching the 300-800. I think I hate you (j/k).

:)

[PhotoJourno]

I vote it for best POTN Moon shot Ever... (follow up after my first post)

[JuZ]

Glad you approve ;)

[Wazza]

That's a wicket shot!

So cool how you didn't plan for it either.
A couple years ago, I shot Jupiter passing behind the moon, but that was planned
http://www.warrenwilliams.co.nz/gallery/album/astro/index.html

[reewik]

This is awesome for sure.... Great shot and what a great job discovering something like that in the photo as a bonus!

[csm328]

Thats a crazy shot. The rings of saturn appear to have the same density as the body of the planet which is quite strange. The pitch and angle of the planet is strange and there's no lit area from the sun yet the planet isn't obscured from the sun by the moon. 1 in 1000000!

[B-Brother]

I was searching for the word "Moon", and I saw this shot, and I think I stopped searching here lol, great shot

[witchy]

I have looked at this pic many times and it's as impressive now as it was the first time I saw it!

awesome capture!!!

[JuZ]

Thanks :D
I'm still really impressed with it myself and have put wheels in motion for having an A3 print done :)

[witchy]

Thanks :D
I'm still really impressed with it myself and have put wheels in motion for having an A3 print done :)

You should put the wheels in motion and try to sell that shot, I think you will do well with it!! :)

[Cleo199]

I just want to add to my *wow* from my earlier post, and I really hope you don't mind, but I've made your picture my desktop wallpaper. I see it everyday when I turn on my computer. I rarely use other peoples pictures for my desktop wallpaper.

[Uhland]

That is a wonderfull shot.

[cosworth]

Welcome to the plane of the ecliptic.

[Gujustud]

wild wild shot!

[totalbeginner]

Absolutely amazing! I can honestly say that I have never felt so much emotion from an image, increadible! :D

[Ospi]

Absolutely mind blowing. Enter this into comps, you cant lose :P

[bcap]

Wow that's an amazing shot. Nice capture! What lens did you use?

[njnightsky]

Nice Catch

[JuZ]

Wow that's an amazing shot. Nice capture! What lens did you use?
Thanks :)
That was taken with the Sigmonster (Sigma 300-800mm) and 1.4x TC

[Miyagi-san]

BONSAI!!!!!!! Crazy shot JuZ-san! W_WO_WOW_!!

[embdaw]

A-friggin-mazing shot! I'm in awe!

[StewartR]

Amazing shot, Juz. And, if it really was an accident, then I suspect you don't know just how good your timing was.

In the course of its orbit, the moon moves right-to-left relative to the other objects in the sky. So a little earlier it would have been in front of Saturn. How much earlier? Less than 4 minutes!

If you'd taken the shot 4 minutes earlier, Saturn wouldn't have been visible at all.
If you'd taken the shot 2 minutes earlier, Saturn would have just been "touching" the moon.

What are the odds against that?

[Kamelija]

Nice, wonderful, awesome shot. Not so many such you can get in lifetime.

... and those scales are just amusing. I was watching some sunspots some week or so ago. Smallest of them was just about Earth size, and even than in looked like fly **** on white table. We are so small actually, small and fragile...

[YosemiteJunkie]

Amazing shot, Juz. And, if it really was an accident, then I suspect you don't know just how good your timing was.

In the course of its orbit, the moon moves right-to-left relative to the other objects in the sky. So a little earlier it would have been in front of Saturn. How much earlier? Less than 4 minutes!

If you'd taken the shot 4 minutes earlier, Saturn wouldn't have been visible at all.
If you'd taken the shot 2 minutes earlier, Saturn would have just been "touching" the moon.

What are the odds against that?
Holy Moly. No wonder I haven't been able to duplicate Juz's shot. I bet I've taken 200 moon shots since seeing his photo. I guess I'm going to have to learn more about time tables on planet orbits and positions. But at the same time I have a feeling now that I know what lens he was using it may not do me any good. I can, at best, get half of his long end with 400mm. :(

[Billiie]

That is truely an atonising photograph!!! You should publish it!

[SOE digital]

Saturn is much farther away thats why it looks so small compared to the moon.

Gee, thanks Einstein!!!!!!
;)

[DDA]

.
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^
^
Sorry, I'm just speechless!

[cowpix]

I'll take a 30x40. :)

[SacMac]

Just stunning. Well done! Looks like there will be good a good photo opportunity on the 30th with Venus and Saturn so close together. Hope you get something even more awesome then!!

[Tony McSpadden]

that is the most amazing photo i have ever seen.

[canuck_newbie]

:shock:

don't know how I missed this.................bloody fantastic

[klmigut]

Stumbled across this looking for info on how to take a good moon shot, OMG how cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr. E]

just to piggy back everyone else...WOW! I love it! That is absolutely spectacular!! Congrats!

[JuZ]

Thanks again everyone, I've now got a large print and I've just got to get it framed :D

[gary88]

Unbelievable shot. Easily one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive shot I've ever seen.

[sharod]

Wow, just wow.........I'm speechless. Congratulations on the best moon shot that I have EVER seen!!!!!

[cadams]

Wow just stumbled across this after posting another moon shot. I think this is the best shot i have seen in some time. I agree with the others about getting that to sigma, it makes me want to buy one that is for sure.

Chris

[wtaccord]

Brilliant photo!!! Absolutely amazing!!!

[cntry]

Gets a WOW from me!!!

[Celestron]

Excellent shot Juz ! I shot it film many yrs ago when i first got my first SLR film camera . Thing is mine was about 5:45pm when the sun was still up :) . There were lots taken back then . Again great shot you have here .

[Adrena1in]

Sorry to be sceptical, but a couple of things worry me;

1) Is this a single image, or a composite of two images? I shot Saturn and the moon while they were nicely lined up earlier this year, (not as close as in your pic), but I was unable to get them exposed well to appear in the same shot. Either the moon was just right and Saturn was invisible, or Saturn was nice and the moon was way overexposed.

2) The rings of Saturn in your picture look quite tilted, but at the moment they're quite flat on to us aren't they, and not very visible.

But if my scepticism is unfounded and that is a real picture then I agree with everything others have said...it's a cracking shot. Really quite rare to get something like this. :)

[JuZ]

Blimey, my thread is still alive :D

Yes of course it's a real shot, that's already been covered much earlier in the thread if you want to have a read.
The rings are more tilted than they are now because I took it in May 2007

[Adrena1in]

The rings are more tilted than they are now because I took it in May 2007

Ooooooooh, I didn't realise that! I thought you were saying you'd taken it the other day or something. (I wondered why I couldn't find anywhere that said Saturn and the Moon were in alignment recently!! :rolleyes: )

[Celestron]

Sorry to be sceptical, but a couple of things worry me;

1) Is this a single image, or a composite of two images? I shot Saturn and the moon while they were nicely lined up earlier this year, (not as close as in your pic), but I was unable to get them exposed well to appear in the same shot. Either the moon was just right and Saturn was invisible, or Saturn was nice and the moon was way overexposed.

2) The rings of Saturn in your picture look quite tilted, but at the moment they're quite flat on to us aren't they, and not very visible.

But if my scepticism is unfounded and that is a real picture then I agree with everything others have said...it's a cracking shot. Really quite rare to get something like this. :)



When in doubt check it out . SPecial events like this are usually listed at www.spaceweather.com (http://www.spaceweather.com) . I checked the EXIF on his image and it definitly shows 5-23-07 so i checked the archive dates and there was the event with lots of images by takers . So check out the Saturn-Moon occulation (http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?month=05&day=23&year=2007&view=view) for other images .

[acchildress]

Wonderful!

[markjpcs]

Excellent shot!

[b1gdaddy]

Blimey, my thread is still alive :D


And it deserves to be!

Outstanding shot. Well done :)

[12mnkys]

Definitely a thread ressurection...But Great Shot Juz!

[A.S.I.G.N. Observatory]

These sort of conjunctions and occultations of the moon and large planets like Jupiter and Saturn happen on a semi-regular basis. There is a great free program called stellarium online that shows you how the sky moves in real time.

You can forecast these events in plenty of time and get set up for them. A really great shot is to try to capture a planet being cut in half by the dark side of the moon. It gives great perspective.

By the way, I didn't take these. Just google images of occultations.

[C.Lala]

Super shot Sir! And what a lucky coincidence!

[Tendy]

Heres a shot I took a while ago, well two shots put together. I took them using my phone held to the eyepiece of my 3 inch spotting scope. First the moon, which was fairly easy, then one of Saturn, which was a pain to find!
I added it to the moon pic later
http://fc95.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/349/6/8/Moon_and_Saturn_for_homestar_by_Stumm47.jpg

[Adrena1in]

Interesting shot Tendy...I assume the moon was nowhere near Saturn at the time? Your image is probably one that goes into the category of "art" rather than "Astrophotography". (Oh, and I don't think you needed to put a square around Saturn...I'm sure people could spot it. ;) )

[Tendy]

Interesting shot Tendy...I assume the moon was nowhere near Saturn at the time? Your image is probably one that goes into the category of "art" rather than "Astrophotography". (Oh, and I don't think you needed to put a square around Saturn...I'm sure people could spot it. ;) )

Well yea,tho I would definitely call this astrophotography rather than art. Nothing artistic about this shot-its just a plain record shot. And i put the square around it to show a non believer at work(she wouldn't believe it possible to see a planet without a telescope)

[CopenKagan]

Amazing shot! Any chance that I could get a full size to set as my wallpaper?

[Cole_Schmitt]

That is definatly one of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. Great work indeed!

[Pricey]

Incredible. Truly amazing.

I'm wondering. I can take shots like this with my 70-200...

http://photos-d.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v1269/200/105/519430214/n519430214_5154675_5938.jpg

How much could my photos improve with a 2x converter? I'm really intrigued.

[zeva]

wow amazing shot...

[Colport100]

That is the best 'space' shot I have ever seen....totally awesome. I'm sure you could make a fortune with that pic. Well done

[vroom]

Incredible. Very humbling. Thank you for showing us the original and 100% crop.