I was out photographing the Milky Way on this crystal clear August evening, and a bright Perseid meteor passed right through the middle of the Milky Way core as a complete surprise! The Perseids don't peak for another week, so I hadn't expected to see more than a few small meteors. I was just setting up my cameras, so the framing and camera settings were not dialed in yet, but I'm still super excited that I caught this!

The fireball occurred at about 10:25 pm looking southeast from Charlottesville, Virginia. More full-resolution photos from this night will be posted on my Twitter (@forecaster25) and Facebook (Peter Forister Photography).

Canon Rebel t3 with Rokinon 16mm f/2 wide angle lens. Shot at iso 3300, 20", f/4

Minor light and color adjustments in Adobe Lightroom