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APOD

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.

A thin crescent moon is shown with a bright red contrail going through it, right to left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Plane Crossing Crescent Moon

Explanation: No, the Moon is not a bow, and no, it did not shoot out a plane like an arrow. What is pictured is a chance superposition. The plane's contrail would normally appear white, but the large volume of air toward the rising Sun preferentially knocked away blue light, not only making the sky blue , but giving the reflected trail a bright red hue . Far in the distance, well behind the plane , the crescent Moon also appears slightly reddened. Captured early last month from Bolton , UK , the featured image was taken so soon after sunrise that the plane was sunlit from below, as was its contrail. Within minutes, unfortunately, the impromptu sky show ended . The plane moved out of sight. The Moon kept rising but became harder to see through a brightening sky. And the contrail gradually dispersed.

Date December 4, 2023
Credit Image Credit & Copyright: Juned Patel
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.