Airplane Appears to Soar into Sun's Jaws During Solar Eclipse (Photo)

Airplane and Partial Solar Eclipse Calais 2013 May
Phillip Calais took this image of a plane flying during a partial solar eclipse in early May 2013 from Monument Hill in Fremantle, Australia. He took this photo using a Canon 40D with Canon 400 mm f5.6 lens and a 2x teleconverter. The photo was taken at 7:05 a.m. and the sun was only about 1.4 degrees above the horizon. (Image credit: Copyright Phillip Calais)

An airplane appears to be moments away from being gobbled up by the sun in this amazing view of a solar eclipse.

This photo, captured by photographer Phillip Calais, shows a single moment during the solar eclipse of May 10. Here, Earth's moon is blocking the lower portion of the sun not long after sunrise Western Australia, where Calais was observing from.

While the partial solar eclipse pictured here was taken from Western Australia, stargazers from other parts of the world witnessed an annular solar eclipse, also known as a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse. This occurs when the moon's disk appears smaller than the disk of the sun, resulting in a ring of sunlight visible surrounding the moon, resulting in a ring of fire, or annular, solar eclipse. [See more amazing solar eclipse photos from May 2013]

"Getting the aircraft in was purely a chance shot, nothing more," Calais wrote SPACE.com in an email.

Calais captured this image in early from Monument Hill in Fremantle. He took this photo using a Canon 40D with Canon 400 mm f5.6 lens and a 2x teleconverter.  The photo was taken at 7:05 a.m. and the sun was only about 1.4 degrees above the horizon.

Warning: Never look directly at the sun through binoculars, telescopes or with your unaided eye. Severe eye damage, and even blindness, can result. Astronomers use special filters to safely observe the sun and protective glasses are required for solar eclipse viewing.

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Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.