Perseid Meteor and Star Trails

August 21, 2010

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Photographer: Domenico Licchelli; Domenico's Website
Summary Author: Domenico Licchelli; Jim Foster

The image above showing a lone meteor (lower center) falling across a field of variegated star trails was captured on August 13, 2010 from Gagliano del Capo, Italy. The Perseids is perhaps our most reliable meteor shower. This year, observers who weren't clouded out had a good chance to see a number of "shooting stars" since the Moon was in the new phase when the Perseids peaked -- the night of August 12/13. Meteors associated with the Perseids can actually be seen from mid July through mid August. Click on image to identify several of the brighter star trails. Meteor showers are named for the area in the sky from where they seem to radiate. Hence, the summer's best display of meteors radiates from the constellation of Perseus

Photo details: Camera: Hutech enhanced Canon 350D; Lens: 24-105 mm at 28 mm; ISO: 800. Image is a combination of several exposures with the camera set on a tripod;exposure of 30 seconds, at f/4; interval between successive exposures was approximately 30 seconds.