Explanation:
On April 22nd, the Lyrid Meteor Shower
visited planet Earth's sky,
an annual
shower produced as the Earth plows through dust from the tail of
comet Thatcher.
Usually Lyrid meteor watchers see only a drizzle.
Just a few meteors per hour stream away from the
shower's radiant point near
bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra.
But photographer Tony Rowell still managed to catch one bright
Lyrid meteor.
Recorded in early
morning hours, his well-composed
image looks
toward the south from White Mountains
of eastern California, USA.
During the time exposure, he briefly illuminated an
old mining cabin in
the region's Ancient
Bristlecone Pine Forest in the
foreground.
The rich starfields and dust clouds
of our own Milky Way galaxy stretch
across the background, along the
meteor's glowing trail.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090501.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
