Hi All. Flying over central Australia on route from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on the morning of the 17th May, I enjoyed watching the planets rise in turn from an altitude of 39,000 feet. As they rose higher the morning twilight intensified with the most vibrantly saturated reds, yellows and blues you could ever hope to see. A beautiful spectacle! The only problem I had (apart from keeping the hand held camera still) was to minimise the reflections from within the lit cabin.
Hopefully many of you, whilst flying, will have witnessed the remarkable colours on show before sunrise or after sunset. If you haven't, well, you're in for a treat next time you're in the air at these times!
Image: hand held Canon 40D with 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f/2.8, ISO 800; white balance was set for sunlight. NO tinkering with the colours (ie boosting saturation or adjusting colour balance) was done. An annotated version is also provided if you wish to identify the planets.
Thanks to all for your interest and for taking the time to comment. The spectacular views from the aeroplane was the "icing on the cake" capping off a very memorable three weeks away touring mainland Europe and Scotland.