(meteorobs) Geminid peak night photos

[Pierre Martin]

Here's my photo results for the 2010 Geminids (December 13/14, 2010)  
at Deerlick Astronomy Village (DAV) in Georgia (U.S.A.)

I first spent a couple of hours trying to photograph some of the early  
evening activity, well before the moonset.  The Geminids sometimes  
produce long and spectacular earthgrazers, the result of meteors  
skimming the upper atmosphere while the radiant is near the horizon.   
I had the camera aiming to the north, towards Ursa Minor - hoping to  
capture some in that direction.  The First Quarter Moon was still high  
up at this time, and it lit up the sky a fair amount.  We could easily  
see the surroundings without any light.  Although the camera did not  
catch any earthgrazers, three bright Geminids eventually passed  
through near Ursa Minor.  This is a composite of three 75 seconds  
exposures, taken with a Canon 7D at ISO1250 and a Canon 15mm f/2.8  
Fisheye lens, setup on a Vixen GPDX equatorial mount.  The image was  
cropped in Photoshop:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139136599_htgH2-O-LB

As soon as my desired field of view (the bright winter constellations)  
was high enough in the east, I re-positioned my camera (Canon 7D at  
ISO1600 and a Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens) and I set it for  
continuous one minute exposures from 10 pm and 6 am.  Out of several  
hundreds of exposures, a total of 90 Geminids were captured within  
this field of view.  All of the exposures with meteors were later  
digitally co-added into Photoshop to create the following composite.   
The best meteor of the night (the Geminid that split in two) was  
partly captured by the camera.  It's the bright streak near the bottom- 
right corner.  It actually travelled a long distance and was  
significantly brighter far beyond the frame:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139136862_8jEEo-O-LB

I also had a Canon 300D at ISO800 and a Canon 24mm f/1.4 mkII lens  
(stopped at f/2.0), setup on the Vixen GPDX mount.  This camera was  
aimed towards Orion and Taurus, and also exposed continuous one minute  
exposures between 10 pm and 6 am.  A total of 37 Geminids were  
captured, and digitally co-added for this composite.  The 24mm lens  
has a smaller field of view, so it doesn't tend to capture quite as  
many meteors (as the 15mm fisheye lens) but the gain is better  
definition:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139809989_kgU4Y-X2-LB

Moving on to the end of the night... Here's a single 1 minute  
exposure, taken after 6 am taken with the Canon 7D at ISO1600 and  
Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens.  (The tracking was turned off at this  
point, to keep the camera aimed into the western sky for a few more  
exposures while Raymond and I were asleep).  It shows a single Geminid  
passing near the open star cluster M48:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139225099_vVLnd-X2-LB

Single 1 minute exposure, taken with the Canon 7D at ISO1600 and Canon  
15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens shows a bright Geminid passing in Canes Major:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139822937_hNxKY-XL-LB

Another single 1 minute exposure, taken with the Canon 300D at ISO800  
and Canon 24mm f/1.4 mkII lens shows a bright Geminid passing near the  
star Procyon:

http://pmartin.smugmug.com/Other/2010-Geminids/15225791_qciLa#1139827893_2FRWf-XL-LB

The Geminids are attractive and colorful meteors... a breathtaking  
sight, especially when seen darting across the Milky Way and the  
bright winter constellations.  My favorite of all the annual showers :)

Clear skies!

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario