Twenty-year-old AJ Smadi may have only been practicing astrophotography for two years, but his skills have already been garnering attention. One of his images has even been selected as NASA’s Astronomy Photo of the Day. Last month, he showed off his talents with an incredible photo of a solar eclipse on Saturn. This gas giant will be seeing quite a few eclipses in the near future, and Smadi made sure he was ready with his equipment to capture the event.
Saturn has more moons than any other planet in our solar system, with a total of 145 confirmed satellites. But only seven of these are large enough to eclipse the sun, casting a shadow on the planet’s surface. In the next few months, one of Saturn’s largest moons, Titan, will transit the planet several times before taking a break until 2040.
Knowing that these events were about to happen, Smadi used the Stellarium sky app to track the eclipse. Luckily, it was visible not far from his location in Washington, and so he set out with his telescope, camera, and infrared filter. Setting up at 1 a.m., he waited several hours until Saturn was high enough to image. After the shoot, he stacked thousands of images using video captures into one final, incredible photo.
In it, Titan’s shadow is clearly visible on Saturn’s surface. But that’s not the only fascinating element of Smadi’s photo, as several other moons are also visible. Smadi posted a helpful image with labels to allow everyone to clearly see Dione, Tethys, and Enceladus. And, of course, Saturn’s stunning rings are ever-present, rendered in crisp detail.
Smadi’s prowess at planetary imaging is astounding considering his age and level of experience, making us excited to see how his skills will continue to grow and develop.
To stay updated with his work, follow AJ Smadi on Instagram.
Amateur astrophotographer AJ Smadi captured amazing images of a solar eclipse on Saturn.
The planet’s moon Titan caused the eclipse, but Smadi captured much more than that in his images.
AJ Smadi: Instagram | Reddit
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by AJ Smadi.
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