Warming up to the Perseid show
August 11, 2012by yaska77
As you probably know, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks this evening (check our monthly guide for some more info) but because it was clear last night I set up my camera in the garden, more out of hope than expectation.
My history of trying to photograph meteors has been sketchy at best (see last years attempt here) but last night I was left grinning like a cheshire cat!
18mm focal length, f/3.5, 15 sec exposure at ISO1600 – This is easily the best meteor photo i’ve taken (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
I approach photography with a “try lots of settings and see” kind of attitude, and I’ve found what works initially may not look as good an hour later (light pollution quite often gives me orange skies if I don’t pay attention). Normally I wouldn’t have the ISO as high as 1600 for long exposure star shots, but anything lower was producing too much of an orange tint.
Still, I’m very pleased with the shot above, lots of stars, a bright Perseid meteor flash and it’s not too faded. The other shots I caught weren’t as clear, but one did stand out as the meteor flashed by a cool little cluster that you can’t usually see with the naked eye (unless you’re lucky enough to have dark skies!)
Another Perseid meteor flashes past Brocchi’s Cluster (the upside down coat hanger!) in this cropped image from early on 11th August 2012 (click to enlarge) – Credit: Sky-Watching/A.Welbourn
Brocchi’s Cluster can be found within the imagined lines of the “Summer Triangle“, about a third of the way from Altair in a straight line to Vega. It’s also known as the “Coathanger” for obvious reasons!
And so on to this evening. My camera’s batteries are charging, the tripod is ready and the weather forecast is (currently) still favourable, so I’m planning a little trip out of town tonight to slightly darker skies. It’s building up to be a good show, and if I get any more images I’ll post them here!
And if you capture any photos of your own, please feel free to tweet them to us as we’d love to see them!
Enjoy the show 
Love the photos! Well done!
Thanks Jo!