Fireball Over Lake Urmia

From the photographer: “Taken in the night of the Alpha Aurigid Meteor Shower on the shore of Lake Urmia. The fireball appears in Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) next to Polaris. Lake Urmia has been a great concern for Iranians over the past decade as it was drying so that was my purpose to capture the lake with the background of stars to show it’s still beautiful despite loosing lots of water.” Lake Urmia at its greatest extent was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth but it has shrunk to 10% of its former size due to damming of the rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area.

Technical details: Exposure time: 20 sec, ISO 2000, f/2, Lens: 16mm samyang, Camera: Nikon D7100