Eta Aquarid meteor from Mount Bromo, an active volcano

Justin Ng sent us this wonderful shot of his night on Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia, during the peak of the 2014 Eta Aquarid meteor shower. Justin wrote:

I visited Mount Bromo crater during the peak of Eta Aquarid meteor shower and the porters were fast enough to set up a fire to keep themselves warm within a few seconds after I arrived.

After having visited Mount Bromo several times over the past two years, I must say it’s definitely much more active now and part of the night sky was obscured by the sulphur dioxide gas emitted from Mount Bromo when I took this shot. At times, I was ‘consumed’ by the sulphur gas for several minutes due to the occasional change in wind direction and I could hardly breathe or kept my eyes opened when that happened. Despite these challenging shooting and viewing conditions, the natives or tourists will still ascend the steep stone staircase (approximately 253 concrete steps) that leads to the brim of the steaming, sulfurous, gaping caldera to catch a glimpse of the scenic sunrise every morning. The image is a result of stacking 4 images taken at different times facing at the same direction.

Thank you, Justin! Visit Justin Ng Photo.

Bottom line: Justin Ng, a Singapore astrophotographer, captured a photo of an Eta Aquarid meteor as seen from Mount Bromo, an active volcano in Indonesia, on the morning of May 6, 2014.