A camera aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft captured a photo of Saturn on October 13, 2021.
To get an image of Saturn, the camera was turned across Saturn, and shots were taken to simulate the Earth’s orbital motion. Since Saturn is much dimmer than the Moon and Jupiter, we cannot see its moons. They are simply not bright enough.
As a result, Saturn, magnified 4 times, is visible from the Moon. Such technique maneuvers require careful preparation and planning.
LROC Orbiter (NAC) cameras are line scan tools and typically only photograph the Moon, as they were designed specifically for capturing close objects. The LRO orbiter travels at over 1600 m / s and takes long frames with very short exposure times.
Fortunately, NAC was able to capture the main rings of Saturn. They have a diameter of 270 thousand km, which is about 70% of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Earlier, the same device photographed the “great conjunction” from the moon. This is a phenomenon where Jupiter and Saturn were closer to each other than in the last 800 years. The planets from Earth looked like they were one bright double star.
