What Are the Odds?
Can we even calculate the probability of a truly lucky shot? This is what I often ask myself when looking at this image of mine from April 19, 2025, captured near the SOAR Observatory on Cerro Pachón at sunset. It was in the last seconds of the already dramatic phenomenon, during which a multiple green flash appeared, that I noticed on the live view how a plane was landing in front of the last remnants of the “torn” solar disk. It was flight LA106 from Santiago to La Serena, which was actually delayed by a few minutes. Thanks to this, I managed to fly in front of the Sun. The flight itself lasted only about a second. And if it had occurred just a few days earlier or later, it would not have appeared at all before the setting Sun due to the changing azimuth of the sunset (due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis). Also, if I had only observed it at a different spot or altitude, I would not have captured it either. So: What are the odds?
Used Canon 6D, 1000mm/f10, 1.4x teleconverter, ISO 50, 1/4000s, single shot from tripod.
Full credit and image: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)
