Starship Asterisk*

This is what astronomy is all about

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070525.html

Share this with young people.

Can we see the same sight by naked eyes from any dark, high altitude location or only a fainter, less glorious version?

The naked eye refreshes light pattern recognition approx 30 times per second while this image was taken with the lense open for (likely) approximately 240-300 seconds (4 to 5 minutes) exposure time. We could see exactly like this only if:
1) we could hold our eyes still and focused on a single object for more than 4 minutes without blinking.
2) we could alter the function of our eyes to allow for 4 minutes of light gathering without any visual pattern refresh.

What we would see is far less grand but still impresive on a clear, still, dark night.

It is very impressive, ...............and very humbling

I wonder... while Saturn was behind the moon there may have been a moment when the moon's shadow crossed it. Though faint, could it have been discerned?

What a great pic that would be, the shadow of the moon (or the Earth) on Saturn.

Curious Servant wrote:I wonder... while Saturn was behind the moon there may have been a moment when the moon's shadow crossed it. Though faint, could it have been discerned?

What a great pic that would be, the shadow of the moon (or the Earth) on Saturn.

The Sun being larger than the moon and the great distance involved; there would be no shadow left. If you looked from Saturn you may be able to see a transit of the Earth and Moon across the face of the sun. With a telescope of course.
Orin

While there would be no discernable shadow crossing the distant planet there should be some dimming of light reaching it as can happen with all transiting events. This would be the reverse of the method use to locate some hot jupiters around distant stars.