A Northumberland photographer has snapped a series of stunning photographs of shooting stars above one of the North East's most iconic settings.
Wil Cheung, the resident stargazer at the Twice Brewed Inn in Northumberland National Park, captured the images at Sycamore Gap during the Geminids Meteor Shower earlier this month. It is not the first time he's photographed a shooting star, after he captured a one in a million family photo in March this year.
With a good forecast predicted during the Geminids Meteor Shower, Wil decided to brave freezing temperatures on Hadrian's Wall in an attempt to achieve a years-long ambition of capturing a shooting star over the famous tree. When the skies are clear on December 13 and 14, when he visited, the Geminids can produce more than 120 shooting stars an hour.
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He said: "I have wanted to get a photo of a shooting star above Sycamore Gap for a long, long time and the forecast said there would be the darkest skies between 8pm and 9.57pm on December 14. My challenge was to catch a bright one near the famous tree."
It wasn't all plain sailing though, a wind chill made the temperature of -9°C feel more like -13°C, and many sections of the path had become like an ice rink.
Wil continued: "Bearing in mind I often go to Iceland, this was no doubt one of the most challenging conditions I've faced as a photographer. Parts of the path to the tree were solid ice."
It was only when Wil got back to the Twice Brewed Inn that he found that the gamble had paid off, and he had the photos which you can see throughout this article.
Wil finished: "It was great to get back into the warm and find I had got some great photos after all, including a photo of fellow North East photographer, Tom Wright who you can see making his way towards me.
"Sycamore Gap has been photographed from every angle and so it feels special to have captured an image of such an iconic place, which not many other people will have managed to get. It took a long time to warm up afterwards, but it was definitely worth it!"
What's the most spectacular picture you've taken of the night sky? Let us know!
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