Astronomy - Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2017 January 17
Fly Me to the Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Tamas Ladanyi (TWAN)
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, to the right of the plane, is the
young Moon. This
vast world shows only a sliver of itself because the
Sun is nearly lined up behind it. Captured two weeks ago, the
featured image was framed by an eerie maroon sky, too far from day to be blue, too far from night to be black. Within minutes the impromptu sky show ended. The plane crossed the Moon. The contrail dispersed. The Sun set. The Moon set. The sky faded to black, only to
reveal thousands of stars that had been too faint to see through the rustic red din.
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