(meteorobs) Photographing a meteor - like fishing or worse

Al Degutis al.degutis at gmail.com
Tue Aug 9 08:22:57 EDT 2005


Photographing a meteor is worse than fishing. Almost every morning
I've gone out to observe I've taken my digital SLR out with me. Over
the weekend it was piggybacked on my LX200 telescope but all the other
times it's been tripod mounted. Of course, getting a meteor in the FOV
takes a lot of luck, especially one bright enough to show up in the
image. I've shot over 400 third second exposures and have two possible
very faint meteors. I've been aiming the camera to the east so that I
can get Mars and Pleiades in the shots. Adding a Perseid or sporadic
to that background would make an excellent photo. As morning twilight
began, some clouds or haze in the eastern horizon diminished the depth
of magnitude so I pointed the camera towards the zenith. About 5
minutes later the camera battery died. I had a second battery ever
since I got burned photographing auroras and the battery died. With
only 10 minutes left to my observing session, I didn't worry about
changing the battery. Then I saw it. A bright mag -1 Perseid streaming
towards and above Pleiades. The train started faintly, brightened up
quickly, dimmed for a 1/2 second and brightened again with an
explosion at the end line a man-made firework almost directly over
Pleiades. The train lasted 3 seconds. At first I was in awe. Then the
disappointment set it. Had I kept that FOV in the camera and replaced
that battery right away I could have had  the picture of the week.
Probably the picture of my lifetime.

Unfortunately, all I can say is "that was the one that got away".

Al Degutis


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