Fly Me to the Moon ... and Jupiter, Too (Photo)

An airplane passes by the moon, Jupiter and Jupiter’s moons Io, Calisto, and Europa (from left to right) in this photo. Astrophotographer Greg Gibbs captured this image on Feb. 18, 2013 from a remote region in New South Wales, Australia. He used a 10-inch (250mm) F/4 Newtonian Telescope mounted on an NEQ6 Pro Telescope Mount and a Canon 60D camera. CREDIT: Greg Gibbs / facebook.com/capturingthenight View full size image

A jet aircraft crosses the face of the moon while Jupiter and its own satellites Io, Calisto, and Europa share the spotlight in this stunning night sky photo.

Astrophotographer Greg Gibbs took this photo on Feb. 18 from a remote region in New South Wales, Australia. Gibbs used a 10-inch (250mm) F/4 Newtonian Telescope mounted on an NEQ6 Pro Telescope Mount and a Canon 60D camera to capture the image. The camera was hooked into the focuser of the telescope.

The shot is the result of two stages: First Gibbs took a continuous set of duration shots to make sure he had the plane, Jupiter and the moon all visible in a single image. [Amazing Views of Jupiter and the Moon]

Then Gibbs took a longer exposure to highlight three of the Jupiter's moons: Io, Calisto, and Europa. This rare conjunction lasted only a few moments and the moon will not eclipse Jupiter in the same way again until 2016.

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"It was a good thing that I was on a deserted country road because my scream of excitement would have echoed for miles. I had managed to get the plane crossing the moon in five individual frames just as Jupiter was about to be occulted by the moon, as well as a further seven or so frames with the dissipating jet trail.  I knew right then that I had captured something unique," Gibbs wrote on his website, Capturing the Night.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

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