FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Photos: Moon Rising and Planes Landing

[Tom Polakis <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>]

Many times in my 20 years of making the commute from Tempe to the intersection 
of 34th Street and Washington, I have watched airplanes pass near the rising or 
setting moon and thought, "hey, that would make a great photo!"  I have found 
that the best phase is just before or after Full Moon, when the lighting is 
right and the moon's altitude is low.  Ideally, the moon should be rising or 
setting south of due east, which contrains the time to range between April and 
August.

Unfortunately, the combination of the correct moon phase, clear skies, and free 
time never seem to converge.  Tonight, however, I got home from work, ran my 
desktop planetarium software, and realized the circumstances were going to be 
good at around 6:30 p.m.  I headed back to a site near the east end of the 
north runway.  A dirt lot along Air Lane between 40th St. and the lonely Route 
153 freeway is popular among plane-spotters.

There was no shortage of air traffic.  Planes that appear larger than the moon 
in these photos are approaching the north runway, and those that are smaller 
are on final to the middle runway.  I used a 300mm lens on a Canon 20D camera.

http://www.pbase.com/polakis/skyharbormoon

Tom

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