Saturn and the Moon: A Celestial Encounter

Image Title: Saturn after occultation by the Moon

Copyright: Copyright: Roberto Ortu

Date image was taken: January 04, 2025

Location: Cabras, Sardinia, Italy

Data Acquisition Method: Personal Telescope Setup

Image Description and Details: This composite photo shows the planet Saturn after the end of occultation, when it became visible again in the evening sky. Above you can see the southern part of the Moon, very rich in craters, and the bright spot near Saturn is 85 Aquarii, a star of magnitude 6.7 distant about 560 light years.
To make this image I first shot Saturn, just before the event, then the Moon with two different exposure times and finally I composed the results using a frame taken from the original shot to position the celestial bodies in the correct way.

Equipment Details: Celestron telescope 114/910 Newton
Mount Eq2 Sky-Watcher
Planetary camera QHY5L-II-C
Q-Barlow 2.25X Baader Planetarium
UV/IR cut filter
Firecapture 2.7 for two shots: 58.02 ms of exposure for Saturn, 11.05 ms for the Moon
PIPP, AS! 4, Registax 6, Astrosurface V3 for processing
GIMP to create the composite photo

Name: Roberto Ortu

Website or Facebook Profile: http://www.flickr.com/people/194524290@N05/