Kenya Morning Moon, Planets, and Taurid
On November 8, a waning crescent Moon joined the continuing
parade of planets
in Earth's early morning skies.
Captured here from
Amboseli National Park, Kenya, even
the overexposed moonlight can't washout brilliant Venus
though, lined up near the ecliptic plane with faint Mars and
bright Jupiter above.
As if
Moon and planets
aren't enough, a comparably bright Taurid meteor also
streaks through the scene.
In fact November's
Taurid meteor showers
have had a high proportion of bright fireballs.
Apparently streaming from radiants in Taurus, the meteors
are caused by our fair planet's
annual passage through
debris from Comet 2P/Encke.
The comet's dust grains are
catching up with Earth's atmosphere at a relatively low
speed of about 27 kilometers per second.