Meteors on Mordor

A combination of light pollution from flaring gas wells, blinking wind towers, Cheyenne and a growing lightning storm conspired to give this scene a decidedly Mordor vibe. You can see a Perseid meteor right of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and a possible Iridium flare directly below it. This was taken after the peak of last year's Persied event.

Image Notes: This image is a composite of multiple frames taken over roughly 45 minutes from the same location. Three separate shots captured the lightning, two for the meteor and flare, one for sky and one for lighter foreground. Most of the warmer points of light on the horizon are gas being flared off oil wells that don't have the infrastructure to utilize the gas. The red lights are wind towers and of course the glowing clouds are from lightning.

PawneePawnee National GrasslandGrasslandOil and GasOilGasLight PollutionStarsNightM32Andromeda GalaxyGalaxyAstronomyNatureSkySkyscapeWeatherLightningMeteorPerseidPerseidsAstrophotographyMenefeeMichael MenefeeColoradoWeldThunderstormStormStormyFlareNikonD700

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