Skywatchers Identify Aircraft as They Pass in Front of the Sun

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 passes in front of the Sun on Feb. 4, 2015. Credit and copyright: Chris Lyons.

It’s all about timing and location.

You’ve probably seen images we’ve posted on Universe Today of planes crossing in front of the Sun or the Moon. But how do the photographers manage to capture these events? Hint: it’s not random luck.

“I live under a main flight path out of Heathrow,” said photographer Chris Lyons from the UK who took the image above earlier today, “and can easily spot the planes not long after they take off — if it is clear — from when they are about 100 miles away!”

Chris posts many of his images on Universe Today’s Flickr page, and what is great about Chris’ airplane photos is that he includes a handy infographic about the plane in the shot; the type of plane, its takeoff and destination, and more, garnered from online flight trackers.

Chris told Universe Today that he originally started trying to catch planes passing in front of the Moon.

A waxing gibbous Moon with an  American Airlines flyby  on Feb. 2, 2015. Credit and copyright: Chris Lyons.
A waxing gibbous Moon with an American Airlines flyby on Feb. 2, 2015. Credit and copyright: Chris Lyons.

“It went from snapping them near it when just taking Moon shots to wanting to get closer and have them actually passing it,” he said. “Then I got a Solar filter and tried it with the Sun. It is far more difficult than the Moon, as you cannot look at it for long. I limit my viewing (our eyes are precious) and only look through high rated neutral density filters.”

We’ve also featured images from Sebastien Lebrigand who lives about 70 km outside of Paris, France. Lebrigand is prolific: he takes almost daily images of planes passing in front of the Sun and Moon and posts them on Twitter.

A Boeing 777 and a sunspot crosses the Sun on April 17, 2014, as seen from France. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.
A Boeing 777 and a sunspot crosses the Sun on April 17, 2014, as seen from France. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.

Lebrigand is an amateur astronomer but says he especially enjoys “the rare conjunction of the planes passing by the Sun and the Moon.’

He uses a Canon EOS 60D and a telescope to take his photos the pictures. But his work takes hours of time for analyzing when a potential photo opportunity might occur, setting up equipment, waiting for the exact moment, and then perfecting the images.

An Airbus A319 jet flying at 37,800 feet as it passes in front of the Moon, as seen from near Paris, France. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.
An Airbus A319 jet flying at 37,800 feet as it passes in front of the Moon, as seen from near Paris, France. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.

Check out more of Chris Lyons’ work at his Flickr page, and you can see more of Sebastien Lebrigand’s work at his website or his Twitter feed.

Astrophoto: Special Delivery to the Moon

Airbus A300 B4-622R from London to Paris -- and to the Moon? -- on April 5, 2014. Credit and copyright: Sebastien Lebrigand.

Fly me — or my package — to the Moon? “Anything is possible!” said astrophotographer Sebastien Lebrigand, via email to Universe Today. Lebrigand lives along the flight path to the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and regularly takes images of planes flying in front of the Moon, (see another of his shots here), but he’s thinking this might be his best one yet.

He used a 102/660 mm refractor telescope with a Canon EOS60d camera to capture this shot.

Note: This photo does not constitute an endorsement or advertisement.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you’re giving us permission to post them). Please explain what’s in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.