Meteor Showers
Tau Herculid Meteor Shower
Tau Herculid Meteor Shower
The Tau Herculid meteor shower/outburst was a bust last evening, but still came away with a few nice captures and some lessons learned. The biggest lesson was learning my all-sky dome camera tends to overheat the equipment inside, yikes, temperatures inside hit about 58C (136F). We had almost 600 people watching our live stream from all over the world and had a blast chatting through the event and sharing observations from your locations. This image shows the best meteor captured during this event from my backyard. I’ve highlighted the Big Dipper (in Ursa Major) and Keystone (in Hercules) asterisms for reference.
Tech specs: Canon 6D, ZWO AAP, Lensbaby Fisheye lens, ISO 1000, 60 second exposures. Processed in Adobe Lightroom. Image Date: May 31, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Tech specs: Canon 6D, ZWO AAP, Lensbaby Fisheye lens, ISO 1000, 60 second exposures. Processed in Adobe Lightroom. Image Date: May 31, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Lyrid Meteor Shower 2020
I managed to capture a few Lyrid meteors last evening, April 21, 2020. Here is a composite image showing two meteors. The Big Dipper asterism and the star Vega (in the constellation Lyra) have been highlighted in this view to help orient you. The focal point of the Lyrid Meteor Shower is in the direction of Vega, you can see how these meteors point in that general direction.
Tech Specs: Canon 6D, Lensbaby Fisheye Lens, tripod mounted, unguided, controlled with BackYardEOS software platform for automated 30-second images all night. Date: April 21, 2020 Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Tech Specs: Canon 6D, Lensbaby Fisheye Lens, tripod mounted, unguided, controlled with BackYardEOS software platform for automated 30-second images all night. Date: April 21, 2020 Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.
Geminid Metero Shower 2021
Geminid Metero Shower 2021
A few Geminid Meteors from last evening - much more to process!
Tech Specs: Canon 6D using a Lensbaby Fisheye Lens and controlled with a ZWO AAP via BlueStacks, 60 second exposures at ISO 2000. Processed in Corel PaintshopPro. Image Date: December 13, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Tech Specs: Canon 6D using a Lensbaby Fisheye Lens and controlled with a ZWO AAP via BlueStacks, 60 second exposures at ISO 2000. Processed in Corel PaintshopPro. Image Date: December 13, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Lyrid Meteor Shower - Rogue Meteor
Lyrid Meteor Shower - Rogue Meteor
Here is an image from last evenings Lyrid meteor shower run, 300 x 120 second exposures and only two rogue meteors captured. Granted, there were a lot of clouds last night. In this image the Northern Cross and Big Dipper asterisms as well as the star Vega are highlighted for reference. Where it says “Radiant Point” is this area meteors should “appear” to be coming from. You can see the rogue meteor on the top of the screen (NORTH).
Tech Specs: Canon 6D with Lensbaby Fisheye Lens, ZWO AAPlus, dew strap, unguided, operated via ethernet to Bluestacks. 120 second exposure at ISO 1000. Processed in Luminar NEO and Corel PaintshopPro. Image Date: April 22, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).
Tech Specs: Canon 6D with Lensbaby Fisheye Lens, ZWO AAPlus, dew strap, unguided, operated via ethernet to Bluestacks. 120 second exposure at ISO 1000. Processed in Luminar NEO and Corel PaintshopPro. Image Date: April 22, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).