Castle and Meteor by Moonlight

As seen on Astronomy Picture of the Day each August, as planet Earth swings through dust trailing along the orbit of periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, skygazers enjoy the Perseid Meteor Shower. In 2011 the shower peaked in a full moon night but still some meteors could be spotted in the brightly illuminated sky. The moonlight and a Perseid meteor created this gorgeous skyscape, recorded in a simple, single, 10 second long exposure on the morning of 2011 August 12. Below the moonlit clouds in the foreground are the ruins of a medieval castle near Veszprem, Hungary, seen against the Bakony mountain range. In the night sky above the clouds, the Perseid meteor’s trail is joined by bright planet Jupiter near the center of the frame along with the Pleiades star cluster at the left.