Not Quite a Wash

This bright meteor from the Perseids meteor shower overcame the strong glare of a nearly full moon to be captured in this image, a 25-second exposure at f/4, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length. The image, looking northeast from Brentwood Drive in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was shot at 1:15 AM, Saturday, August 13, 2011. The meteor streaks through its namesake constellation Perseus--the radiant point--on peak shower day. At upper left is the constellation Cassiopeia. Peeking just above the roof line at lower right is the bright planet Jupiter, magnitude -2.51. The moon was located out of the picture at right and shielded by a large tree.