Sun, Moon, Hot Air Balloon
Credit & Copyright:
Thilo Kranz
Anticipating the celestial
shadow play
of a solar eclipse, sky gazers across Germany watched the
Sun rise on May 31.
In Bonn, astrophotographer
Thilo Kranz had set up his small refractor
telescope and camera
on the Kennedy Bridge across
the Rhein river to get a good view to the northeast.
The timing of this eclipse
must have seemed ideal for a local balloon flight too, as hot air
balloonists also
favor early morning hours with usually calm surface winds.
Kranz and colleagues had noticed
a balloon drifting in the hazy sky near the horizon and
speculated about viewing
the
eclipse from
on board.
But when the eclipsed Sun finally emerged into view
they were delighted to see the
lighter-than-air
craft make the occasion a very special show from their own
vantage point.
In fact, in the central panel of this montage of Kranz's
telescopic eclipse images, the silhouetted balloon reminds
the APOD editors of a remarkably well-fed exclamation mark!