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Geminids Meteor Shower

Last night was the peak of the Geminids Meteor Shower. These Shooting Stars are dust particles left behind by the asteroid Phaethon.

It was hoped that there would be a lot of activity last night, however, it wasn’t the show I was hoping for with very little visible meteors burning up.

I left the camera capturing a 15 second exposure every 20 seconds between 10:16pm and 11:23pm. During this time the camera captured a few meteors, however, only 7 were bright enough to use. Can you spot all 7?

Therefore, I decided to merge all 203 photos together to create a star trail photograph also showing these 6 meteors. The reason the stars create a trail is that due to the Earth spinning on its axis and moving around the sun they appear to move in the sky. Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, is just out of shot on the top left. This star doesn’t move much due to it being aligned with the Earths axis, hence the name North Star, all other stars then appear to rotate around it. The stars on the top right of the photo appear much brighter, this is the Milky Way.

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Geminids Star Trail (2017)
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Perseids Meteor Shower 2017

The Perseids Meteor Shower is a yearly event in August as the Earth travels through the dust left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle as it orbits the Earth.

This year, the peak time was 1am on the 13th August, however, the bright Moon in the sky was going to wash out most of the visible Meteors and make photography a little tricky. Therefore, I decided to set the camera up and point North East towards the Perseus Constellation (where the shower gains it’s name) before Moon rise to capture some of the early starters.

The image below is the best of the bunch. If you look closely, you can actually see 3 Meteors that burnt up within this 20 second exposure. It’s amazing to think that these bright “shooting stars” are dust the size of a grain of sand!

What I love about this shot is not only is the Milky Way clearly evident, but also the Andromeda Galaxy is showing herself off too!

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}
Persieds Meteors - D810, AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm, f/3.2, ISO3200, 20sec - {Flickr Link}
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Milky Way and Palm

The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye from our garden right now, so I thought I’d point the camera up and see what it would pick up.

Ok, not exactly award winning Astro-Photography but it goes to show how little light pollution there is here in the hills of the Algarve. I look forward to getting out in the coming days and weeks looking for some good locations for shots.

If you look close, you’ll even spot a shooting star! Due to the high resolution of the stars, it’s much better to look at the photo on my Flickr Page

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}
Milky Way and Palm - D810, AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm, f/2.8, ISO3200, 20sec - {Flickr Link}

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Test shot of the Milky Way from the Garden

Since arriving in Portugal, I have been staring in awe at the night sky.

Tonight it was very clear, so I grabbed the camera and took a quick test shot of the Milky Way. It was directly overhead, so nothing to frame it against and also meant I couldn’t fit much of it in (even with a the 14-24mm set at 14mm!) so the result is great, but you can see just how clear it is.

A couple of hours north from here is Alqueva which is one of the darkest places on planet Earth. I will also be taking a trip there to photograph the night sky!

I will be looking for a great location to frame some shots of the Milky Way in the near future, so keep your eyes open.

Test Shot of the Milky Way
Test Shot of the Milky Way – D810, AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm, f/2.8, ISO2000, 25sec

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International Space Station Trail

The ISS is again passing over the UK at regular intervals and tonight was a clear night to see a very bright passing.

To avoid star trails, this photo is made up of 4 separate shots using the D810’s internal intervalometer and then layered together in Photoshop.

If you wish to view the ISS passing over, check out www.n2yo.com or one of the many other websites and mobile apps that are available to give you details of the passes.

{Click image for a higher resolution, click Flickr Link in caption to view photo on Flickr}

International Space Station (ISS) Trail over the UK
ISS Flyby – D810, AF-S 24-70 f/2.8E @ 27mm, f/2.8, ISO800, 15sec (x4 shots)- {Flickr Link}
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