Image Credit &Copyright: Amir Hossein Abolfath(TWAN)
Explanation: Bright moonlight from aFull Moon near perigeeilluminates the night and casts shadows in thisskyscape from central Iran. Taken on August 12, near the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower the exposure also captures a bright and colorful perseid streak above the shady tree in the foreground. This year the super moonlight interfered withmeteor watchinginto the early morning hours, overwhelming the trails from many fainter perseids in the shower. Brighter perseids like this one were still visible though, their trails pointing backto the heroic constellation Perseus outlined at the right.Swept up as planet Earth orbitsthrough dust left behind from periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, the cosmic grainsthat produce perseid meteors enter the atmosphere at nearly 60 kilometers per second, heated to incandesenceand vaporized at altitudes of about 100 kilometers. Next year,Perseid meteorswill flash through dark skies under a New Moon.
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