A Singapore photographer captured a few awe-inspiring shots of the planet Saturn, apparently right next to the moon.

The rare sight, known as a "conjunction", took place on Jul. 24 from around 11:30pm.

The photographer, Gordon Koh, shared his photos with Mothership on Jul. 25.

"Saturn is so close, and it's like 'kissing' the moon," he remarked.

The photos, taken with a Sony A1 camera and a Sony 600mm f4 with 2X teleconverter, show a minuscule Saturn — with its characteristic rings clearly visible — side-by-side with the moon.

And a close-up:

Koh told Mothership that he took the photos at 4:33am, when the two celestial objects were closest to each other.

To achieve the photo, he found a place near his home at Punggol Central with an unblocked view of the moon.

As the moon "moves across the sky quite fast", he had to adjust his equipment to ensure that it was within the frame.

He added that it was not a composite photo, and it was only edited for brightness and contrast, as the moon is much brighter than Saturn.

"This is not AI fill-in," he quipped.

Other photos

Other astrophotographers also shared their best shots.

Here are a few.

From Bedok Reservoir Road:

From Potong Pasir:

From Thomson:

Very cool.

Huh so close???

While the two objects might seem near each other, they're not necessarily physically close to each other.

Rather, a celestial conjunction simply means that the objects are in close apparent proximity when viewed from Earth.

In this rare occurrence, the rings of Saturn will be partially obscured by the Moon’s surface, adding to the spectacle of the conjunction.

If you missed it, don't worry; the conjunction will still be visible on Jul. 25, although they won't be quite as close to each other.

Top image from Gordon Koh