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enter image description here

I have this image from a treasure hunt, I'm fairily certain it's a real piece of the sky, but I've been unable to identify it, can anyone help?

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    $\begingroup$ nova.astrometry.net/user_images/1450365 was unable to identify it. It looks like someone took a background stellar image they liked and overlaid it with computer generated imagery, including a spiral galaxy icon and a Saturn-like ringed planet icon. Unfortunately, not enough of the background image is visible to identify it. $\endgroup$
    – user21
    Jan 13, 2017 at 3:37
  • $\begingroup$ My guess is it's meant to indicate someone standing on a Moon of Saturn. That's the only way Saturn would look that big in the night sky. I'd start by looking up the major moons of Saturn and figuring out which one potentially matches the nearby landscape in the image (note, it's likely not Titan due to this moon seemingly not having a dense atmosphere) $\endgroup$
    – zephyr
    Jan 13, 2017 at 15:28
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    $\begingroup$ @zephyr: The night sky from any of Saturn's moons would look identical to that seen from Earth, if seen by the naked eye. Except for the planets of course. $\endgroup$
    – AtmosphericPrisonEscape
    Jan 13, 2017 at 16:11
  • $\begingroup$ Wouldn't a moon of Saturn be on pretty much the same plane as the rings, so you wouldn't see the rings? What really bothers me about the picture is the spiral galaxy in the background. It's not close to real looking. It's a solid picture even with the fakes, but would be better without the galaxy or "too big" star in the background. Very loosely related: washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/… $\endgroup$
    – userLTK
    Jan 13, 2017 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ I doubt that the actual night sky (without the edited in objects) is the hint. Someone is looking at Saturn. Who actually discovered Saturn we don't know, but Galilei is credited with first observing the rings (although he did not realize at the time). Would that be a useful hint? $\endgroup$
    – user1569
    Feb 13, 2017 at 9:16

3 Answers 3

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I've just submitted a cropped section to Astrometry.net (that's astrometry, not astronomy). Click the "web" to upload an image and start the search, then take some time to read How (the heck) does Astrometry.net work? while waiting for it to compute...

cropped section from OP's image

No quick solution. That doesn't mean that this isn't real, it's just that the first attempt didn't succeed.

better luck next year!

failed search at Astrometry.net

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I do not believe that is the real sky. The rings of Saturn are not that large with the naked eye. I am not sure what the other formation is either. Perhaps some one else could shed better information about the picture.

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It doesn't seem to be real, moreover, as the other user has said, the rings of Saturn are not visible with the naked eyes. It is merely seen a dot. I think you need a minimum of 30x magnification to see the rings.

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  • $\begingroup$ Its quite clear that that a drawing of Saturn has been layered on a background photo probably from a sky survey. The background image is probably real, but in reality it is just a small fragment of the sky. Note that this question is now about three years old, and the OP has probably finished their scavenger hunt by now.... Take a look at the more recent and unaswered questions, and welcome to astronomy stack exchange. $\endgroup$
    – James K
    Sep 13, 2020 at 18:36

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