Castle and Meteor by Moonlight
Each August, as planet Earth swings through dust trailing
along the orbit of periodic
comet
Swift-Tuttle,
skygazers enjoy the Perseid
Meteor Shower.
As Earth moves through the denser part of the comet's wide dust trail
this year's shower
peaks around 6:00 UT August 13 (this morning), when
light from a nearly full Moon masks all but the brighter meteor
streaks.
Still, Perseid meteors can be spotted
in the days surrounding
the peak.
Moonlight and a Perseid meteor created this gorgeous
skyscape, recorded in a simple, single, 10 second long
exposure on the morning of August 12.
Below the moonlit clouds in the foreground are the ruins of a
medieval castle
near Veszprem, Hungary,
seen against the Bakony mountain range.
In the night sky above the clouds,
the Perseid meteor's trail is joined by bright planet
Jupiter near the center
of the frame along with the
lovely Pleiades star cluster at
the left.