On the morning of September 18, 1997, the Moon, two days past full, occulted the planet Saturn. This is not a rare event, but how it happened, and how close the reappearance occured to the terminator of the moon, made for a dramatic event, and a spectacular photographic opportunity.

technical info:
Telescope: 10" f/6.8 Newtonian reflector, with 12mm Brandon eyepiece projection for an equivalent f/32. The telescope is mounted on a Celestron G11 German equatorial mount.
Camera: Nikon F3, mounted at a right angle to the telescope tube, 1 second exposures, cable release. (This positions the camera mirror so that its' motion is parallel to the tube, minimizing vibrations. I have found that vibrations from a 35mm SLR camera mirror are less than transient variations in atmospheric seeing.
Film: Fujicolor 200, processed normally.