Jets and Moon - a photo on Flickriver

Jets and Moon

            "Lunar Air Traffic," or " An Airbus, a Cessna, and a Boeing walk into a bar." (working title)
Before you start shouting, "THIS IS FAKE," this is, in fact, a composite using the LOT Polish Airlines Moon flyby (I posted a slightly later frame last night) as a base frame. It started as an experimental image and an attempt to show just under 7 minutes of activity Saturday night, and it's grown on me quite a bit since I assembled the first version. It needs a bit of explanation, and along the way, it might give context to these shots.
I was focused mainly on the flights headed toward Miami International Airport (MIA) because they usually fly nearly directly over my house in a (generally) north-to-south heading. Using The Photographer's Ephemeris, I knew the waxing Moon would pass over the route (from my home-based perspective) starting at ~5:20 pm until maybe 5:45 pm. Using Flightradar24.com, I could see three flights might be overhead in that time window.
For this composite, I've aligned each of the frames on the Moon, which is moving East to West or from right to left, narrowing the gap between the flight route and the Moon as time passes.
The first plane to arrive overhead was the one to the far left, arriving at 5:26 pm; it was close enough that I could get it and the Moon in a 700mm frame, which meant anything arriving after would be even closer. At 5:31 pm came the Cessna jet, which meant the Boeing 787 I had been watching for quite a while was in play. It arrived at 5:33 pm, close enough that if it were delayed even 90 seconds, it'd have likely passed directly in front of the Moon.
Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in the route behind the 787 for another 20 minutes, and by then the Moon was too far West and, thus, far from the flight route.
Flight details:
1. An Airbus A321-231 (reg N668NK) operated by Spirit Airlines. Flight 941 was traveling from Raliegh-Durham (RDU) to Miami (MIA) at 36,000 feet and 441 knots. (far left)
2. A Cessna 525B Citation CJ3+ (reg N701JS) operated by FlyExclusive, LLC. Flight 701 was traveling from Augusta (AGS) to Ocean Reef (OCA) at 38,229 feet and 440 knots, probably after a day at the Master's. (middle)
3. A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (reg SP-LSG) operated by LOT Polish Airlines. Flight LO29 was traveling from Warsaw (WAW) to Miami (MIA) at 37,378 feet and 499 knots. (far right)
#planespotting #avgeek
   

Taken on: April 13, 2024

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Sets appears in: • Photostream - 2024 • Transits (Sun / Solar or Moon / Lunar)

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