Starship Asterisk*

Plane Crossing a Crescent Moon

Explanation: No, this is not a good way to get to the Moon. What is pictured is a chance superposition of an airplane and the Moon. The contrail would normally appear white, but the large volume of air toward the setting Sun preferentially knocks away blue light, giving the reflected trail a bright red hue. Far in the distance, well behind the plane, is a crescent Moon, also slightly reddened. Captured a month ago above Valais, Switzerland, the featured image was taken so soon after sunset that planes in the sky were still in sunlight, as were their contrails. Within minutes, unfortunately, the impromptu sky show ended. The plane crossed the Moon and moved out of sight. The Moon set. The contrail became unilluminated and then dispersed.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

Very nice. But the caption gets the sequence a little out of order. The Moon set about six hours later. (It would need to be a very young, slender, crescent Moon to set so soon after sunset.)

Edit: On second thought, it is pretty mountainous in Valais. Maybe the Moon did set behind a mountain shortly afterwards. But the Moon has an altitude of ~45 degrees in the APOD. I'd like to see that mountain!

AHA! Chemtrails!

khh wrote: ↑Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:28 amAHA! Chemtrails!

You better start spraying vinegar on a fan.

Almost looks as if the plane is landing on the moon!

That's a beautiful song and video, Art, thanks. I won't even deduct marks for the superimposed moon at the end.