August 13, 2016
The elements that make you — the calcium in your bones, the oxygen in your lungs — were scattered across space by dying stars long before...
Perseid from Torralba del Burgo
Birthday · August 13, 2016
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APOD published August 13, 2016. Credit: Fernando Cabrerizo. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Perseid meteors rained on planet Earth last night. This year the stream of dust from periodic comet Swift-Tuttle has produced a stunningly active shower of bright cosmic streaks. In this 25 second long exposure, one luminous Perseid trail, fast and colorful with a small explosion at the end, is witnessed by night skygazers from Torralba del Burgo, Soria, Spain. A second fainter meteor trail appears well below the first. The two can be extended to intersect at the meteor shower's radiant just above the brighter stars of the heroic constellation Perseus. Though the meteor shower's activity is waning, in the coming days Perseids will still flash through the night. But you won't see any if you don't go outside and look up.
Image credit: Fernando Cabrerizo