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Sky gazers were treated to a stunning photobomb of Saturn by the moon last night, as the satellite dramatically eclipsed the planet.

In Western Australia, the event could be seen with the naked eye as Saturn disappeared behind the moon and reappeared on the other side.

The event was one of 13 occultations between Saturn and the moon this year. These occur when one astronomical object moves in front of another.

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Photographer Colin Legg in Australia caught this stunning image of the event yesterday describing it as 'a brilliant thing to watch'. Saturn is seen in the top right

Monday morning's occultation could only be seen by those in the Eastern Hemisphere, but stargazers everywhere were able to experience the event online.

'It's quite dramatic when [an occultation] involves a bright photogenic object like Saturn, whose rings are now nearly optimally tilted,' said Slooh astronomer Bob Berman who broadcast the event.

He added there was 'striking detail visible on the foreground of the moon and the background planet - a true photobomb moment.'

This image was tweeted by Space Geek yesterday. Saturn is peeking out from the moon on the top left. The event could only be seen in the Eastern Hemisphere

The moon shown eclipsing Saturn. The different views of the planet on the left are shown in this composite image created by M Wastell on Spaceweather gallery

In the Slooh video, you see two different views of the start of the occultation and three different views of its end.

This line-up was obvious to anyone looked up in Australia, Slooh said, even from light polluted cities and without a telescope.

The event, however, came too near dawn for people in the Western Hemisphere to see it.

Colin Legg in Western Australia caught a stunning image of the event yesterday describing it as 'a brilliant thing to watch.'

Twitter users also released their footage of the 'photobomb', using handheld point and shoot cameras, as well as more sophisticated equipment.

By this evening, the moon's appearance in the sky will have glided toward the south to sit above the bright red star Antares.

About a half hour before sunrise on Thursday, Venus will be visible in the low eastern horizon below the constellation Gemini.

This line-up was obvious to anyone looked up in Australia, Slooh said, even from light polluted cities and without a telescope. Slooh broadcast the event to the world

Twitter users released their footage of the 'photobomb', using handheld point and shoot cameras (such as this image), as well as more sophisticated equipment