Bulgaria to witness Moon occult Saturn on 21 August

Occasionally, the Moon occults a planet in the Solar System, and if that planet is one of the five brightest, the phenomenon can be observed with the naked eye or binoculars. On the morning of 21 August 2024, Bulgaria will witness the Moon occulting Saturn, an astronomical event in which the Moon passes directly in front of Saturn, temporarily obscuring it from view.

This was announced by Pencho Markishki, a physicist from the Institute of Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Astronomy of the Physics Faculty of Sofia University. For the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Sofia (in Sofia), the phenomenon will begin at around 06:42:12 on 21 August, and the moon will set at 08:26.

For the Nicolaus Copernicus Observatory - Varna, the occultation will begin at around 06:44:42 and the moon will set at 08:06, the specialist said.

He advised amateur photographers to use an orange or red light filter to reduce the blue glow of the sky when trying to capture the phenomenon.