Last week on Wordless Wednesday, I found a striking post by David Williams.  (Click on his name to see the photo of the starry evening sky.)  It immediately captured my full attention.  Fortunately, all you have to do is hover the cursor on the image to bring up the technical details.  The next question was, “Can I do that?”

I tried, but I was too late to get the effect I wanted.  The photo is probably worth sharing.

The dipper handle points to Arcturus.

What do you think?  I barely managed to get Arcturus in the shot.  It is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere.

A few minutes later I took a shot of the dipper.  During the 30-second exposure, a visitor raced across the scene.

A visitor streaks through the lower left portion of the frame.

Can you see the meteor’s trail?  It was another “happy surprise.”

I’m not satisfied with these results, so I’m going to try some other ideas.  If they work better, you may hear about it.