Explanation:
Moonsets are not often quite
as exciting as this one.
But amateur astronomer Marc-Andre Besel was impressed by the
brilliant lighting displays that joined the first
quarter Moon
and stars of the constellation
Scorpius
in western skies.
On August 22, 2004, his view looked across the
Gulf of Mexico from Anna Maria Island, Florida, USA, a region
that would experience even more
stormy weather in the coming days.
The alluring digital image is a time exposure, by
chance capturing
the details of a brief flash of
lightning
along with an overexposed Moon and dramatic cloud formations.
In fact, the exposure is long enough to show the background
stars as short streaks or trails.
The bright yellowish star trail, just above and right of
the lightning flash, is red giant star
Antares.
