Amateur astronomer Dan Bush has been experimenting this summer with taking pictures through his telescope of high-flying airliners. With some skill, persistence and a bit of luck, he got this neat shot of a jet in front of the Moon.

"Doing this gives me something to do while waiting for it to get dark," Bush said. He watches the night sky from Albany, Missouri.

"Since I live far away from any major airport, the planes are usually at high enough altitudes to form contrails," Bush explained via e-mail. "I saw the plane coming and realized that it might pass in front of the Moon so I focused on the Moon and waited for it to pass."

Bush thinks the plane belongs to American Airlines.

The photo was taken Aug. 22 with a 6-inch refractor telescope and a Nikon 995 digital camera. Bush has astronomy and weather photos on his web site.

-- Robert Roy Britt

Credit: Dan Bush

Return each weekday for a new SPACE.com Image of the Day.