Photographer Captures One-of-a-Kind Shot as Meteor Crosses a Comet Tail Above 15th-Century Castle

Petr Horálek is willing to forego sleep to drive out of town after 3 a.m. and find his dark, precious subject matter. He knows a comet is hard to spot amid city lights; a meteor is even less likely. To capture both at once in the light-polluted city is all but impossible.

For Horálek, dark skies come at a premium, and on this night the stage was set at the base of a secluded medieval castle.

“What is photographically appealing about this castle is its unusual majesty,” Horálek tells The Epoch Times. “It gained prominence under the powerful Pernštejn family, who transformed it into a formidable Gothic fortress.”

The jutting cone tower and stone walls stand atop a steep volcanic dome surrounded by flatlands that stretch for miles. Because of the surrounding Elbe plains, the castle can be photographed from afar, making the celestial background appear optically enormous. Horálek wanted that contrast for his picture.

But adding a castle in front of a comet isn’t as simple as it sounds. Without precise mathematical calculations it would be impossible to align the exact moment when the comet rises behind the castle from the correct viewpoint. He set about planning his shoot.

“The comet was supposed to rise in a similar position to the moon [which would rise] a few hours later,” he says. “So, using the PlanIt Pro and PeakFinder apps, I searched for places where the Moon [would] rise.”

Fortunately, the moon stayed below the horizon until after dawn, leaving pristine darkness for the comet to shine.

“What a joy when we found out that they were!” Horálek says.

The comet’s highly-compact head, or nucleus, rose and shone brightly. It emitted a vast tail of gas. Horálek’s camera sensors pulled out a vivid greenish-blue, matching the chemical composition of the comet’s misty halo, or coma. The outline of the castle stood against the glow of twilight.

Then something unexpected happened. A shooting star crossed the comet’s tail.

It was pure chance.

“We both saw the meteor with our own eyes and we both recorded it at the same time,” Horálek says. “What are the chances of such a shot? One in ten million? These are the unique moments that are worth traveling for astrophotography experiences.”

Horálek’s shot of the comet wasn’t as clear as Kujal’s, so they later processed the data into his final image and published it online.

“It went viral and made many people interested in astronomy—at least for a short time,” he says.

“This bright meteor, technically a bolide, was not caused by this comet, although its behavior suggests it has cometary origin, probably from some ancient comet in the deep past,” Horálek explains.

The photo attracted all the attention he had hoped for.

While human civilization needs street lights to thrive, artificial light inevitably disrupts the circadian rhythms of ecosystems. Millions of migratory birds fly into buildings because of the glare that disorients their flight. The impacts of skyglow also suppress melatonin production in humans. That means less sleep, and sleep is needed to strengthen the immune system.

Horálek, who first discovered astronomy at age 11 when his grandmother showed him the Big Dipper, is now a bridge for the public to discover his passion. He is the official DarkSky International Czech delegate. The organization promotes things like “responsible outdoor lighting” and installing warmer, amber LEDs instead of blue lights.

In his role as ambassador, Horálek is leading a photography workshop with Nikon this month, photographing the northern lights under dark skies—hopefully—in northern Sweden.