The shadows of three Jupiter moons - Io, Europa and Callisto - were seen on the planet surface simultaneously on Saturday, a rare event seen through Earth telescopes.

Brazilian astronomers broadcast a live view of the astronomical wonder through Youtube on Saturday morning while the Griffith Observatory in the U.S. showed the three-shadow event on its website.

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Some observers were quick to describe the phenomenon as a sign of the end of the world - an apocalyptic event - or a critical change in the movement of celestial forces.

It started when Callisto rotated into a space between Jupiter and the sun, with its shadow seen on the planet at about 3:11 AM GMT. The shadow of another moon, Io, could be seen around 90 minutes later. Then, nearly half an hour past 6:00 AM GMT, Europa's shadow can also be seen on Jupiter.

All three moons simultaneously cast their shadows on Jupiter's surface for 25 minutes. Nimble Io rotated Jupiter, wrapping up the triple shadow transit.

Another rare phenomenon was when Callisto eclipsed Io. For 19 minutes, the positions of Io and Callisto's shadows were on top of each other, seen as one dark pinhead on Jupiter's luminous surface before moving again.

Astronomers say even though the biggest planet on the Solar System has several moons, triple transits are relatively rare. They only happen no more than twice every ten years, though they are not always seen from every corners of the globe.

The last triple moon transit was seen in the Western Hemisphere in 2013 and the next such phenomenon is not expected until 2032, 17 years from now. Sky gazers who missed the event because they do not have access to a computer or due to cloudy skies are advised to look for plenty of recorded video and images.

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TagsJupiter, Jupiter's Moons