fly me to the moon

This photo shows a U. S. Airways airliner, with attending twin contrails, appearing to pass in front of the first quarter Moon. In my experience this type of occultation occurs more often than people might think. In Albany, Missouri, from where this picture was snapped, commercial jets tend to follow "preferred" routes across the sky, and when the Moon happens to be in the vicinity of such a fly-over route, then a composition like the one above is possible. As an observer and photographer, you just have to be mindful, patient and prepared.

Photo details: taken with a 6" f/12 Maksutov Cassegrain telescope using a Nikon 995 digital camera. Photo captured on June 2, 2006.

copyright: Dan Bush, Missouri Skies