‘Saturn as Captured from a Backyard Telescope’

On May 28 2022, a Facebook user shared an image captioned, “Saturn as seen from a backyard telescope” to the large public group “Physics and Astronomy.”

Commenters on the post seemed to believe the sharer captured the image personally, responding:

Fact Check

Claim: Facebook post depicts “Saturn as captured from a backyard telescope.”

Description: A circulating Facebook post of ‘Saturn as captured from a backyard telescope’ gave the impression that the image shown was a single-shot photograph. It was scheduled and shared on multiple platforms and it was originally attributed to u/danborja on Reddit.

Rating: Decontextualized

Rating Explanation: The image was originally shared to Reddit on April 30 2022 by u/danborja. As detailed by u/danborja, the image is a composite, made from stacked and sharpened images and enhanced using various programs; ‘background stars from the Flaming Star Nebula’ were also edited into the composition. Although it was captured using a telescope, the image was significantly processed and not simply a single shot viewed from a backyard telescope.

“What wonderful detail you were able to pick up. First time I saw Saturn in my telescope was breathtaking as well even though my image wasn’t as beautiful as yours”

“Doesn’t take a very flash telescope to see Saturn with your own eye, and the first time you do, well words can’t describe it. Nice picture.”

“What telescope , this is a fantastic image”

In response to the third comment, the sharer explained they hadn’t taken the photograph themselves:

“I haven’t clicked this photo sir..I found it on the internet and shared here..”

An initial reverse image search was unproductive. TinEye.com returned the following error message:

Whoops, we are sorry.

Your image is too simple to find matches. TinEye requires a basic level of visual detail to successfully identify matches. Please upload a more detailed image.

Google Lens didn’t return many results, primarily links to Twitter timelines — not tweets. One match was a May 8 2022 post by the page Astro Universo, with a caption translated to English from Spanish:

Saturn photographed from Earth through a telescope

Two of the matches linked to separate May 1 2022 posts by Tumblr users. Neither post described the image in any fashion:

On May 14 2022, a Twitter account tweeted the image, attributing it to photographer Daniel Borja:

A search for “Daniel Borja” and “Saturn” led to a Reddit profile for u/DanBorja. On April 30 2022, that account shared the image to r/interestingasfuck (after which it landed on r/all).

That post was titled “Saturn through my 6″ telescope,” and the image matched the one in the popular Facebook post:

In comments, u/danborja linked to his Instagram account. Alongside other space images, the Saturn one was featured and captured:

In the Reddit thread, u/danborja reiterated the equipment used, adding a bit more context about the image’s processing:

In that subthread, u/CrankyPelicans asked what the image looked like “before processing.” In response, u/Kid__A__ clarified how images like the viral Saturn one were created:

Borja (@spacebydan) also tweeted the image on April 29 2022. In the tweet, he described it as a “composite image”:

A circulating Facebook post of “Saturn as captured from a backyard telescope” created the impression the image shown was a single-shot photograph. The image was originally shared to Reddit on April 30 2022 by u/danborja. In the comments, u/danborja explained that the image was stacked, sharpened, and enhanced using various programs; “background stars from the Flaming Star Nebula” were also edited in to the composition. Borja shared the image in a popular tweet, and noted that it was a composite image.