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Credit & Copyright: Fritz
Helmut Hemmerich
Explanation:
What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy?
A meteor.
While photographing the
Andromeda galaxy in 2016,
near the peak of the
Perseid
Meteor
Shower,
a small pebble from deep space
crossed right in front of our
Milky Way Galaxy's far-distant companion.
The small
meteor
took only a fraction of a second to pass through this 10-degree field.
The meteor flared
several times while braking violently upon entering
Earth's atmosphere.
The green color
was created, at least in part, by the meteor's gas glowing as it vaporized.
Although the exposure was timed to catch a
Perseid meteor,
the orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from the
Southern Delta Aquariids, a
meteor
shower that peaked a few weeks earlier.
Not coincidentally, the
Perseid Meteor Shower peaks
later this week, although
this
year
the meteors will have to outshine a
sky brightened by a nearly full moon.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M 31 - meteor
Publications with words: M 31 - meteor
See also: