On the night of November 11, 2024, residents of Puerto Rico may witness a rare astronomical event: the occultation of Saturn by the Moon. This phenomenon, last observed in the region 23 years ago, will allow the Moon to obscure the planet known as the 'king of rings.'
The Sociedad de Astronomía del Caribe (SAC) explains that while planets in our solar system orbit the Sun along an imaginary line called the ecliptic, the Moon's tilted orbit means it doesn’t always align perfectly with this path. Consequently, it occasionally passes close enough to a planet to obscure it.
Eddie Irizarry, a scientific communicator with the SAC, noted that the last occurrence visible from Puerto Rico was on November 30, 2001, and the next will not happen until 2037.
Saturn will appear near the Moon around 10:00 p.m., with the actual occultation expected to occur between 10:17 p.m. and 10:20 p.m., depending on the observer's location on the island. The event will last just over an hour, with Saturn re-emerging below the Moon around 11:30 p.m.
It is important to note that this event is a matter of perspective, as Saturn is approximately 856 million miles away from Earth, while the Moon will be around 226,000 miles distant this weekend.
If weather conditions permit, enthusiasts can observe the event with the naked eye or binoculars, and telescopes may reveal five or six of Saturn's 146 moons.
This spectacle will also be visible from the Caribbean, northwestern South America, Central America, parts of southern Mexico, and much of Florida. Observers elsewhere will see Saturn appearing very close to the Moon.
The SAC will host informative talks under a tent at Paseo La Princesa in Old San Juan, providing telescopes for public viewing from 7:00 p.m. until approximately 10:20 p.m., free of charge.