Paul Stewart, an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer from Timaru, New Zealand, was able to capture and then create a rare photograph from outer space. Stewart managed to get a photograph of an occultation of Saturn and the Earth’s moon.
He took three separate photos and combined the three pictures into a composite photo to show the sixth planet in the Solar System peeking out from behind our source of light at night time on Earth. Stewart exposed Saturn and the moon in separate photos. Then, he composited each object in their respective photos into a base frame picture to get the final product.
Recreating a photo of this kind could take time, but the International Occultation Timing Association provides predictions of when an occultation will occur between the moon and another planet in the Solar System. Stewart said an occultation between Saturn and the moon can be viewed somewhere on our planet once every 168 days on average, but gaps as long as five years between these occurrences are also possible.
To see more of Stewart’s work online, look on his website, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.
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