Saturn Peeks Out From Earth’s Moon In Rare Occultation Event [PHOTOS]

In an unusual celestial event, Saturn passed behind Earth’s moon earlier this week, giving stargazers in the Eastern Hemisphere a chance to snap pictures of what was described as Saturn “photobombing” the moon, referring to the practice of people or animals dropping into photographs unexpectedly. Though this was hardly unexpected; the phenomenon was recorded and posted on the Internet by Australia’s Slooh community observatory, and captured elsewhere by hobbyists.

“[The] moon was half full and Saturn entered the darkside an hour after sunset,” said Australian photographer Colin Legg on his Facebook profile, who said this was the fourth and last so-called Moon-Saturn occultation for the 2014. “Even naked eye the view was stunning.”

Occultations are defined as any celestial body passing in front of another. A solar eclipse is an occultation. This is one of the clearest images that captured Monday night’s event.

Others weren’t so clear. Better luck next time.