The real show at this Izu beach town was happening up above.

Shizuoka Prefecture’s Izu Peninsula is famous for its beautiful coastline, and the region is a popular getaway destination for Tokyoites who want to spend a weekend relaxing in its quiet seaside towns. But in the early hours of last Sunday morning Japanese Twitter user @rain_mcz wasn’t staring at the sea, but gazing at the stars near Shirahama Shrine in the town of Shimoda.

Being a photography buff, @rain_mcz also had a tripod set up, and that turned out to be extremely fortunate, because life doesn’t give you too many chances to take a picture as perfectly beautiful as this.

At a little after 2:45 a.m., a shooting star came streaking across the sky, aligned practically parallel to the pillars of the shrine’s torii gate. @rain_mcz quickly snapped a photo, holding the shutter open long enough to capture the trail of light. “I don’t think I’ll ever see a bigger bolide meteorite than this” @rain_mcz tweeted, adding that a piece of it seemed to break off as it passed out of view.

▼ A second shot of the shooting star

“I totally lucked out on this” @rain_mcz explains modestly, explaining that the timing and composition was something that was impossible to deliberately plan.

That said, @rain_mcz’s portfolio contains far too many amazing night sky shots than anyone could take through happy coincidences alone, and the latest addition proves that there’s no substitute for a skilled photographer who also happens to be in the right place at the right time.

Source: Twitter/@rain_mcz via IT Media
Images: Twitter/@rain_mcz
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