When The Moon Looked Like Saturn

What you’re seeing here is the Moon which looked like Saturn for a moment when clouds passed in front of it. This photo was taken on Christmas Eve last year. Lights from the Guatemalan towns, as well as the active volcano Pacaya, can be seen below the Saturn-like Moon.

The Moon shows a slight crescent phase with most of its surface visible by reflected Earthlight known as ashen glow. The Sun directly illuminates the brightly lit lunar crescent from the bottom, which means that the Sun must be below the horizon and so the image was taken before sunrise.

(Image Credit: Francisco Sojuel)