This image is a night view featuring the Milky Way and some of the mountains that surround Yosemite Valley, with the famous Half Dome landmark in the middle, and a lucky Eta Aquarids meteor right above it. It is confirmed the stroke is an Eta Aquarids meteor because it matches perfectly the radiant of this meteor shower. The Eta Aquarids meteors are remains from the also famous comet Halley. Also, the Yosemite Falls - the highest waterfall in North America - are easily visible on the left. Also noteworthy is that the meteors trajectory was up in the image, starting to display a green color as it ionizes, shifting to yellow, and ending up somewhat reddish. The fortunate shooting star right above Half Dome surely makes the image memorable and likely unrepeatable. The image is not a composite, although it is an 8 pane mosaic. The colors in the granite mountains all come from artificial lights: street lights, campers lights, etc. That probably explains the interestingly different colors over each mountain wall. No Moonlight that night (not until 2 hours later). Also, a lightning storm had just passed moments earlier through the sierra. deepskycolors/archive/2013/05/05/striking-synchronicity-Yosemite-Valley.html
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 19:50:51 +0000