Moon Lightning

Moonsets are not often quite as exciting as this one. But amateur
astronomer Marc-Andre Besel was impressed by the brilliant lighting
displays that joined the first quarter Moon and stars of the constellation
Scorpius in western skies. On August 22, 2004, his view looked across the
Gulf of Mexico from Anna Maria Island, Florida, USA, a region that would
experience even more stormy weather in the coming days. The alluring digital
image is a time exposure, by chance capturing the details of a brief flash of
lightning along with an overexposed Moon and dramatic cloud formations. In fact,
the exposure is long enough to show the background stars as short streaks
or trails. The bright yellowish star trail, just above and right of the
lightning flash, is red giant star Antares.