                        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.

                               2023 December 4
   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
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Juned Patel

   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.

                      Tomorrow's picture: powerful ray
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

