Stars, Meteors, and a Comet in Taurus

This was an unusual night to look in the direction of the Bull. The constellation Taurus is always well known for hosting two bright star clusters -- the Pleaides , visible on the right, and the comparatively diffuse Hyades , visible on the left. This night last month, however, was atypically the peak of the Geminid meteor shower , and so several meteors were caught shooting through the constellation with parallel trails . More unusually still, Comet Wirtanen was drifting through the constellation, here appearing near the image bottom surrounded by a greenish coma. The comet was near its brightest as it sped past the Earth. The orange star on the upper left is Aldebaran , considered to be the eye of the Bull. Aldebaran is the brightest star in Taurus and the 15th brightest star in the sky. The featured image is a combination of nearly 800 exposures taken from the Spanish village Albany . Follow APOD on: Instagram , Facebook , Reddit , or Twitter