The Perseid meteor shower lights up the night sky in this spectacular image from Southern California.
Amateur skywatcher Autumn Clark snapped this stunning photo of a Perseid meteor from Lake Morena Park, California on Aug. 11, 2012.
“I set up and just stuck to one corner of the sky, adjusting throughout the night to avoid the rising moon. Eventually I lined up this shot and sat doing 20 second exposures with the ISO at 100. It was really all luck and a lot of patience, but it paid off nicely,” Clark said.
“I got five different shots of meteors streaking across the sky, but that last one was the most spectacular.”
The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that creates a dazzling display in the night sky for stargazers. Skywatchers were able to enjoy a clear night sky on Aug. 11 and 12 for the light show.
The meteor shower has been observed by humans for more than 2,000 years occurring when the Earth passes through a trail of ice and dust left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. The debris enters our atmosphere at more than 130,000 miles per hour causing the particles to burn up and creating the bright meteors in the night sky.
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