APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

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APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:06 am

Image A Moon Dressed Like Saturn

Explanation: Why does Saturn appear so big? It doesn't -- what is pictured are foreground clouds on Earth crossing in front of the Moon. The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible by reflected Earthlight known as ashen glow. The Sun directly illuminates the brightly lit lunar crescent from the bottom, which means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken before sunrise. This double take-inducing picture was captured on 2019 December 24, two days before the Moon slid in front of the Sun to create a solar eclipse. In the foreground, lights from small Guatemalan towns are visible behind the huge volcano Pacaya.

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heehaw

Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by heehaw » Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:42 am

Wow!

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by Boomer12k » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:44 am

Stunning... Ethereal...

Um... isn't that where Blofeld's new Mountain Lair is????

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by Ann » Mon Mar 16, 2020 10:00 am

It looks amazing.

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by Cousin Ricky » Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:24 pm

APOD Robot wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:06 am In the foreground, lights from small Guatemalan towns are visible behind the huge volcano Pacaya.
Not as huge as whatever mountain the camera was sitting on.

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:34 pm

Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by Ann » Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:43 pm

Black hole the size of the Milky Way.png
“As Big as a Galaxy?”
–The Search for Largest Black Hole in the Universe. Source:
https://dailygalaxy.com/2019/08/milky-w ... -universe/


















Busted! :wink:
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lefthip

Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by lefthip » Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:15 pm

Certainly an eye-catching picture. Before I read the explanation I thought that it was the moon photoshopped into an edge-on galaxy.

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by TANSTAAFL » Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:43 pm

Great picture! Would someone who speaks the language of physics calculate how close Saturn would have to be to appear the same size as the Moon in our sky? TIA!

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by neufer » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:02 pm

TANSTAAFL wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:43 pm
Would someone who speaks the language of physics calculate how close Saturn would have to be to appear the same size as the Moon in our sky?
  • The Moon is about 32 arcminutes wide
    Saturn is about 1/3 arcminute wide
Ergo, Saturn would need to be about 100 times closer than it is.
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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by MarkBour » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:42 pm

Cousin Ricky wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 2:24 pm
APOD Robot wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:06 am In the foreground, lights from small Guatemalan towns are visible behind the huge volcano Pacaya.
Not as huge as whatever mountain the camera was sitting on.
That makes sense. I'm not from around there, but armed with Google and Wikipedia ...

The rising, pre-dawn, crescent moon would be in the East. So the lights in the background are some of the small towns (I think they're small) east of Pacaya. The peak elevation of Pacaya is 2552m . Then, mostly west of Pacaya is the much taller Volcan de Agua (peak elevation 3760m). The image might have been shot from somewhere on that massive mountain ... Both volcanic cones look truly massive in local images, but yes, Volcan de Agua is the bigger brother for sure. But Pacaya is much more active than Agua, of late.
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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by BDanielMayfield » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:14 pm

Today's apod made me wonder about the possible existence of exomoons with rings. In our system no moons have rings, but what about other systems?

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Re: APOD: A Moon Dressed Like Saturn (2020 Mar 16)

Post by neufer » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:53 pm

BDanielMayfield wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:14 pm
In our system no moons have rings, but what about other systems?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Rhea
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