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(Click on image to see movie)
As the Moon wheels around in its orbit around Earth, it
constantly passes in front of background objects—usually
stars, but sometimes a planet. Most of the stars it
blocks, or “occults,” are too faint to be seen by the naked
eye, but sometimes a brighter star is occulted.
On September 10, 2001, at
5:00 AM PDT, Saturn and our Moon engaged in a vanishing act
as the Moon passed in front of the ringed planet. The
event, called an "occultation," was observed and captured on
video through Chabot Space & Science Center's antique 8"
refracting telescope, "Leah."
70 minutes later, Saturn
reappeared from behind the limb of the Moon, officially
ending the occultation event at 6:10 AM, PDT.
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