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Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury
Explanation:
What's happening in the sky above Stonehenge?
A meteor shower: specifically, the
Perseid meteor shower.
A few nights ago, after the
sky darkened,
many images of meteors from this year's
Perseids were captured separately and merged into a single frame.
Although the
meteors all traveled on straight paths, these paths appear
slightly curved by the wide-angle lens of the capturing camera.
The meteor streaks
can all be traced back to a single point on the sky called the
radiant,
here just off the top of the frame in the
constellation of Perseus.
The same camera took a deep image of the background sky that brought up the
central band of our
Milky Way galaxy running nearly vertical through the image center.
The
featured image was taken from
Wiltshire,
England,
being careful to include, at the bottom, the famous astronomical monument of
Stonehenge.
Although the Perseids
peaked last night,
some Perseid meteors should still be visible for a few more nights.
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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: Perseids
Publications with words: Perseids
See also: