"Lucky Imaging" combines only the sharpest parts of hundreds of images that are
normally blurred by atmospheric turbulence into a single sharp picture.
As luck would also have it, during an imaging run of the Sun,
an aircraft "photo-bombed" this lucky-imaging sequence.

The image above was made by aligning the affected frames on the silhouette of the transiting aircraft,
rather than images of the Sun. By doing so, a complete profile of the jet is revealed.

Through a telescope, low-level arriving aircraft loom large during their albeit
fleeting (<1/10th second) passage across the face of the Sun.

At this stage of an arrival into Sydney airport, aircraft are flying at around 220 knots
(400km/hr) hence some motion blur is apparent.

The photographer is also a retired international Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 Pilot
and has spotted the occasional "light twin" B737 over the years.
This probably helped in identifying the rude interloper :)

Astro-Physics AP130GTX + AP BARCON
Coronado 90mm Double-stack etalons + BF30
QHY533M

Image and Text Copyright Peter J Ward 2024