Moon Over Mongolia
Credit & Copyright:
Olivier Staiger
Fighting clouds and the glow of city lights,
a young Moon shines over the western horizon of
Mongolia's capital,
Ulaan-Baatar.
The thin
sunlit
crescent is about 2 days old and strongly over exposed in this
image taken on March 10, 1997.
The night side of the Moon is also visible due to
earthshine -
sunlight reflected from the Earth to the Moon.
Just below the Moon,
bright Saturn shines through the clouds.
Skygazers
will have a chance to watch the Moon actually
pass in front of the
ringed planet in February, March, and April
this year.
In fact, an excellent lunar occultation of Saturn will
be visible from parts of North America
on February 20th
as Saturn disappears behind the dark limb of a first quarter
Moon.
Some may even take this opportunity to search for
Saturn's lost ring.