During a recent trip to Lake Superior, photographer Katie Palmer was just hoping to come home with a few good shots of shooting stars.

She ended up capturing the photo of a lifetime.

Shortly after 9 p.m. on the night of October 21, Palmer and her family were settling in on the shoreline of Whitefish Bay to enjoy the Orionids meteor shower. It was clear with a cool breeze — perfect stargazing weather — and Palmer was running a few test shots to check her camera’s settings when suddenly a massive, brilliant fireball streaked over the water.

The timing was incredible luck, Palmer said: Though it was entirely unplanned, she managed to snap a photo of the meteor’s magic right as it happened.

“It was bright enough that it illuminated the entire shoreline for a few seconds with a vibrant blue-green glow,” she said. “My husband and daughter actually heard the fireball. They both described it as a sharp cracking sound. I was just so excited to witness it that I didn’t hear a thing!”

Palmer said she and her family, who live in Indiana, frequently enjoy long weekends in the U.P. for nighttime photography and spending time on Lake Superior. In the past two years they’ve also become avid northern lights chasers, which is how she came to post her spectacular photo in the Michigan Aurora Chasers group on Facebook; the post currently has more than 3,000 likes.

Palmer said she approaches photography as a way of connecting to the world and building memories with her family. Her incredible shot, then, is really just a bonus to an unforgettable evening with her loved ones.

“My favorite part, even more so than actually capturing the moment with my camera, was witnessing it with my husband and our daughter,” she said. “Seeing the meteor was absolutely magical. Apart from the aurora borealis it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in the night sky.”

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