A Perseid meteor and the Milky Way Galaxy’s core over the mountains of Western North Carolina
This is the best individual meteor I captured out of quite a few on the evening of August 12th into the morning of August 13th during the peak of the 2023 Perseid meteor shower. Along with lots of meteor watchers, I had been looking forward to this evening for years. The Perseids were basically ruined by a full moon in 2022, and most years I have to contend with a lot of cloud cover here in Western North Carolina. This year, however, we had an almost new moon making our skies darker than usual, and the clouds mostly cooperated as well. As a general rule I love the cloud cover and the rain that comes with it, but it can really mess up an important night sky event. There was more than a little cloud drama on this particular day as well, and I was driving through pretty thick fog on my way to set up for this photograph. Fortunately once I reached my chosen high altitude location I was above the fog and the clouds stayed reasonable. What followed was hours of incredible meteors streaking across the night sky and a reminder of just how joyful it can be to be alive. I captured many Perseid meteors, but I most prefer this one for its size, color, brightness, and the way it lined up with the core of our galaxy over the mountain layers below.
Type | Canvas, Metal, Framed Print, Art Print |
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Print Size | 8" x 12", 12" x 18", 16" x 24", 24" x 36" |