Searching for shooting stars in the Emilian Apennines
Searching for shooting stars in the Emilian Apennines
DESCRIPTION
Every year on warm summer nights, we know that an event takes place that has always fascinated humanity. Classically known as shooting stars, or in Christian tradition as the Tears of Saint Lawrence, this astronomical phenomenon has always held great fascination. Today we know exactly what it really is and the nature of the physical phenomenon: personally, I find it even more fascinating than a thousand legends. On the night of August 12, after observing and photographing the solar eclipse, my wife Stefania, our son Manu, and I went to the village of Festà in the Emilian Apennines. For years, “Festà delle Stelle” has been held here—an event organized by the Earth Sciences Department of the Civic Museum of Ecology and Natural History in Marano sul Panaro.
Starting at 9:30 p.m. on the hill of San Rocco, Francesco Toni of the “Le Tre Lune di Monfestino” Association provided a wealth of interesting information about celestial bodies and how to observe them through telescopes. We spent the next couple of hours on a lawn, looking up at the sky and observing the Perseid meteor shower. We were lucky—throughout the night, we saw many streaks of cosmic dust passing through the atmosphere, creating the famous luminous trails.
I had brought my DSLR, a 14mm lens, and a sturdy tripod, and I shot a series of long exposures entirely in manual mode, hoping to capture some memories of the evening.
In the end, my efforts paid off, thanks, of course, to a bit of luck, since there’s nothing predictable about the appearance of shooting stars.
In the photo, a 30-second long exposure, you can see two luminous trails. On the left is clearly that of an airplane, with its colorful, flashing lights. To the right, however, is the trail of what is likely a fireball, with a multicolored trail caused by various elements vaporizing upon contact with Earth’s atmosphere. In the background is a faint but still clearly visible Milky Way.
DATE AND LOCATION
August 12, 2026
Festà - Emilian Apennines - Emilia-Romagna - Italy
EQUIPMENT
Nikon D800
14 mm - f/2.8 - 30 s - ISO 1000 - (4 stops underexposed)
