That Time Of Year - Perseids Meteor Shower Coming Up Next Week

[Blaze]

Fuck.

I can't believe the shit I saw tonight. Did not see a lot of stuff, but goddamn.
Some of it I cannot really explain.

First off. Began taking 20-second time exposures around 11 PM.

I had an old piece of shit full-height office chair sitting in my driveway next to my tripod, so I could lean back and relax.
So I am staring at about an 75-degree angle (almost straight up) facing north. About 11:15 PM I suddenly noticed what looked like a jet. A single blinking white light, blinking at the usual rate of speed.

Only one thing different. This motherfucker was hauling ASS! I mean, had to at least have been doing 2,000 mph. I would venture to say if you watched it horizon to horizon it would be gone in 15 seconds. And this fucker was at high altitude. Easily 20,000 feet, possibly 30,000 feet or more.

Then, suddenly it made a sharp turn to my right (it's left). Not just a 'sharp turn'. It was MORE than a 90-degree angle. AND IT DID NOT SLOW DOWN.
The g-forces alone would have killed any pilot who made a turn like that at that speed. The plane disappeared behind the canopy of a 200 foot tall tree that is right in front of my house.

As I sat there dumbstruck, it suddenly appeared again from behind the tree canopy, moving from my right to my left. It suddenly made a right turn at 90 degrees, going away from me, and in 3 seconds was GONE.

I did not see it again.

A few moments ago (about 1:30 AM), as I was going through my photos, I checked the pics I had taken around 11:15 PM.

Lo and behold, my shutter was open for several seconds during the first flyover and I caught it on film!

I have pasted a green line showing the flight path, with smaller green lines at right angles to point out the blinking light. The plane showed up at the bottom of the photo (bottom of my field of view), heading towards me, then it veered slightly to the left (it's right). You will see where the straight line ends.....that is when the shutter snapped shut, as there are no more blinking lights after that.....I drew in the rest of the flight path. It made a sharp turn to it's left and back, and went straight across my field of view from left to right before disappearing.

[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/15dorc8.jpg[IMG]


Here is a photo that I took later, with nothing special about it, but I have overlaid more green lines to show the flight path that thing took when it reappeared just 10-15 seconds after it disappeared behind the tree canopy.

Note the tree canopy to the right of the photo. It suddenly appeared from behind it in the sky going from my right to left....then took a sharp right turn and flew away from me.

Again, it had to have been going 2,000 mph minimum. And when it flew away from me, I realized something.....it made no sound! I mean, any normal jet, even fighter aircraft flying 30-40 thousand feet up will make a rumble in the sky. I live in the forest, where there is no noise pollution. Either this thing had super-quiet engines, or it was way the fuck up in the sky, or both, cause I sat there staring at the sky after it was gone waiting to hear the sound of it's engine....and I never heard a fucking thing.

[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/dmql8o.jpg[IMG]


No I am not claiming this is some fucking thing from another world. The strobe I saw on it tells me it is an aircraft, but for it to be doing the things I saw it do, it is not something the public is aware of. Must be some kind of advanced aircraft. Needless to say, really blew my mind. And no, I am not on drugs. Though I woulda loved to have had some smoke, lol.


I saw a meteor about 20 minutes later, but it flashed in a part of the sky where my camera was NOT pointed.

Then, finally, I saw a meteor that I did capture. Only one problem. Sky was not clear. Slightly overcast, hazy, with clouds moving around all night, but not solid clouds, just partly cloudy.
And the meteor was of course above the clouds, so my shot is a bit obscured.
Would have had a better shot if there were no clouds, but what the fuck. I still have the rest of the week to try for more shots.

Green line above and parallel to the meteor. Had the ISO cranked to 1600 on a 10-second exposure at that time (just experimenting....90% of my images were 800 ISO at 20 second exposure). I just now cranked the contrast a bit so you guys could see the meteor trail, but as a result the picture has a shitload of digital noise, not to mention the fact I shrunk the image size and quality to upload it on my crummy dialup connection:
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/11hebmw.jpg[IMG]

Cool! Those are the numbers I needed.

on you first shot. I think I see a faint line from the craft connecting the blinking light.

[Hardrock69]

Yes, there is a line. Further evidence it is most likely a plane of some kind. A high-performance plane to say the least.

The higher you crank up the ISO, the more sensitive the CCD image sensor becomes, so it detects faint objects better.

Only problem is, it also means more digital 'noise' in the image.

So I don't go above ISO 800. And how much noise appears in the shot depends also on how long your exposure time is. The longer your exposure time, the more noise will build up.

And you want your lense as wide open as possible. The f-stop setting controls that. Lower the f-stop number, the wider your aperture is. Good f-stop is f2.8. Better is f1.8, though when you start trying to get lower than that, you are going to fork out more cash. I only have some f2.8 lenses, but there is a Nikon lens for my camera (D40X) that is a 35mm lense with an f-stop of f1.8 for under 200 bucks new. The wider your aperture, the more light gets to your image sensor, and you can use shorter exposure times to get the same exposure you would with a higher f-stop and longer exposure times (basically means it is better for low-light photography - which means it is better for shooting rock bands in clubs with shitty lighting systems, lol).


Just do some Google searches for "meteor photography" and you can find all kinds of info.

By the way, got the remote last night. Instead of having to reach up to trip the shutter for every exposure, I just sit in the easy chair and push the remote's button, lol.

Also, as for humidity. You can damage the internal components of your lenses, and perhaps your camera itself if you do not use caution when going from A/C into a hot or really warm environment (or vice-versa).

Ever notice how you step outside on a hot day wearing your shades, and they fog up? Same thing can happen with your lens. Internally as well.

The trick to avoid condensation inside your lens, is to get a quart-sized ziploc bag, but your camera and lens inside it, zip it up, and set it outside for about an hour before you are going to go out and shoot. This will warm your camera up to the same temperature as it is outside, and by the time you go out and take it out of the bag, it will have gotten to the outside temperature and there will be no condensation. Works for me. Went outside, took it out of the bad, and there was no condensation whatsoever on the lense for the whole night.

Also, you want the shortest focal-length lense possible for meteor photography. A 105mm lens is only going to view a small portion of the sky, while a 35mm lens is going to cover a much larger area. Since meteors are random, you want your lens to cover as much sky as possible so as to maximize the odds of you catching that stray meteor.

Hope this provides some basic info.

[Hardrock69]

Haha I am wrong. Off by one day.

The peak is from 3 p.m. ET on Thursday August 12 until 2 a.m. ET on Friday August 13.

So the actual peak is TOMORROW night. I have to pay close attention to the dates. They say the night of August 12, but did they mean the night beginning at midnight? OR the evening of the 12th leading into the 13th? In this case, it is tomorrow evening, the 'evening' of the 12th.

That's cool though. Just hope it continues to stay clear the rest of the week. It is completely clear right now. Me gonna go out about 10:30 or so and shoot for a couple of hours.

[Hardrock69]

Well, got another meteor pic. Again, not spectacular.

Most meteors are very faint. Even some that are pretty bright are there and gone in the blink of an eye, and will not show up in a time exposure due to their brief appearance.

I saw only 3 meteors tonight, none spectacular. I had seen two, and was taking a couple of last shots of Jupiter, which is high in the SE sky right now. Just after tripping the shutter for a 20-second exposure, I saw a faint streak go by Jupiter in the sky.

Here is the original image (though shrunken in size a little bit):



And here is a severely cropped image, with the usual green line parallel and just above the meteor. You can see just a faint whisper of a line in the sky.



One thing I have noticed. Even in Auguest with the Perseids meteor shower, so-called experts and astronomers all say stuff like "You COULD see UP TO 50 meteors per hour", but that is just a rubbish statement like a sweepstakes ad that claims "YOU MAY HAVE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!".

The sky was clearest it has been this week. Not a single cloud. Hope it is the same tomorrow, and dammit, I hope I see more than just 2 or 3 of these fuckers. And this is supposedly the BIG meteor shower of the year! The next biggest is in December.

Ah well. Off to bed for my minimal 4-hours of sleep before the slave-pit beckons.

[Blaze]

I called the president of the local Astronomical Association, Mr. Bell. I did not ask if he was related.
He describes it like this;

The meteor shower path we are passing through is like passing through a river. Right now we are in the marsh. He stated SOME people are spotting meteors. He stated tomorrow we will “step into the river about 9pm” however; Perseids will not rise until about 11 pm. He stressed that this is navigation calculations; that the calculation could be off and if we cross the “river” later in the evening closer to when Perseids rises that more showers would be seen. He shared with me that Perseids rises in the NE and that I should point my camera in that direction.

I understood that very well. I was very excited to go shoot some shots. He also instructed me on how to “get” the shots like the one on this page that he directed me to.

Insert link http://spaceweather.com/

I assume you know how hardrock. If not, let me know and I will slip you notes.

Now for my adventure this evening; Oh my goodness!

I thought what I saw yesterday was disturbing and well it was, but it was nothing compared to this adventure. I research and looked up some of the best spots and I am glad I did. Had I gone on my uneducated thoughts I would have headed right into light pollution.

However, maybe, places are not populated for a reason.

So, I traveled about an hour to get to a dark zone. This was one of the spookiest things I have ever remember doing.

On the way over it is great. Super music and open freeway. I turn off the exit and follow my GPS until my coordinates. I arrive to Adrian GA. There is too much light pollution for my planned shot. And I thought that might be the case, so I start heading out I go north first heading to Kite. Kite is an unusual name, I reconded (sic) that this was a trail of messages at one point of time.

Mr. Bell told me to look for a horizon facing the northeast and to have good luck finding it in Southeast GA. He was correct. Finding an unpolluted area was tough. I found a few. But oh my goodness!
I might not have learned if my camera can take pictures of the night sky, but I did learn what the meaning of “hairs standing up on your neck” meant. There were certain areas that I had such that feeling without any other descriptive quality. Eventually, when I left this adventure, I had literally chills up my spine.

I had driven so far that I was determined to get a shot and the sky was so amazing, I wanted to do at the very least of what Mr. Bell had instructed take a photo of the night sky and see how I do.

So, on my trip back, I choose a place. I use my security light on my car to select a good spot. I truly have never felt this fear. I felt hunted. I had tried to reconcile this fear earlier to open up, to communicate with the grander. Holy holy, it did not get better when I stepped out of my car shear terror hit my heart. I left. I did not even stay to observe much less divert my attention to a camera. I had seen a place on the way in that might do OK. It had light pollution, but not a lot. No go. I thought let me try the bridge, there is enough roadway on either side if I park in the middle that I should have no fear and I could get a cool shot of the interstate. Nope, I spilled my whole work case trying to enter the car quickly enough to leave once I had walked just a few feet away. Terrifying is not the words I would use to describe the intensity.

Needless to say, I have nothing except the research prior to present.

I have never been so please to see Guido’s name and the blinking light of an airport.

Some useful links.

http://cleardarksky.com/csk/

http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/

http://www.lightpollution.it/download/mondo_ridotto0p25.gif

[chefcraig]

Haha I am wrong. Off by one day.

The peak is from 3 p.m. ET on Thursday August 12 until 2 a.m. ET on Friday August 13.

So the actual peak is TOMORROW night. I have to pay close attention to the dates. They say the night of August 12, but did they mean the night beginning at midnight? OR the evening of the 12th leading into the 13th? In this case, it is tomorrow evening, the 'evening' of the 12th.

That's cool though. Just hope it continues to stay clear the rest of the week. It is completely clear right now. Me gonna go out about 10:30 or so and shoot for a couple of hours.

Thanks for the info on this. Our local paper only got around to mentioning the story today (Thursday), and as you stated before, the optimal viewing is set for late this evening thru dawn. Now if the inclement weather and cloud cover would just go away for a few hours tonight so I can see things...

[Hardrock69]

Yup. Blaze, too bad you have to travel. I just walk out my front door and set up my tripod. You can see how dark it is in the last big photo above. Those oaks are 1-200 feet tall, and I am in the midst of the forest. And I am 10 miles from the outskirts of Gnashville. So I am fortunate enough that it is plenty dark.
Oh, and I have an added bonus.

Yes, sitting there in the darkness with my porch lights off....no telling what kind of animal life is lurking. Can be creepy.
But, my dog is with me, and as long as he is silent, I know there is nothing around. If there is some kind of animal lurking anywhere within 1,000 feet, he knows about it and lets ME know he knows, lol. So far, weather forecast is the same.

HOT LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER TODAY, GETTING UP TO 100!

With scattered pop-up thunderstorms.

But in the evening when the sun goes down, the cloud cover clears, and by midnight it is in the upper 70s.....though the humidity sucks fucking ass....makes me feel all slimy and shit.

[Hardrock69]

Dammit. It is raining in the area. Oh well. Only 4:30. Got time for it to clear up.

[Blaze]

Hope it clears up for you! I was going to try again, but stay closer to home. It meant a green zone and not a blue one, but that would have been OK. However, a neighbor mentioned that a panther was spotted just the other night.
I am going to wait until I am a bit more familiar with life in the backwoods. I am not sure how to address the panther issue. I should know how to deal with such if I go out. Just saying.

Anyway, for those that might get rained out or just is too scared.... Nasa is streaming...


Watch the Perseids! Live Video/Audio Feed

A live video/audio feed -- did you know meteors sing a song of blips, pings, and whistles? -- of the Perseid shower is embedded below. Please note that the sky camera is light-activated, so it will become active at dark. Until then, you'll see a mostly gray box with a green line passing over it. The camera is mounted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Even before the camera activates, you can still hear the audio of meteors passing through the sky.

http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/perseids_2010.html

[Blaze]

cool beans look what I found!

http://www.deerlickgroup.com/

Welcome to the Deerlick Astronomy Village home page.

The Deerlick Astronomy Village, DAV, is a unique planned community catering to the specific needs of amateur and professional astronomers.

DAV is located in the very darkest skies in Sharon Georgia, far away from big city lights but at the same time convenient to many major metropolitan areas in the South Eastern USA.

[Hardrock69]

There you go.

Amazingly enough, as I have only gotten 3 hours of sleep every night this week, by 9 PM last night I could not even stay awake I was so burned out. So I missed last night entirely, lol.

Since tonight is Friday, and I can sleep late tomorrow, I will go out again tonight, as I will be able to stay up til 3-4 in the morning.

[Little Texan]

I've gone outside in the middle of the night a few times this week for 15 minutes at a time and I've only seen about 5 meteors total. Either these "experts" are lying their asses off, or this meteor shower is a big dud. I haven't been wowed thus far, and last night was supposed to be the best night for viewing them. It certainly hasn't been worth getting eat up by mosquitoes for.

[Blaze]

I hear ya. I am so wiped from staying up late and keeping my regular mornings for so many days in a row.
Astronomy communities must be jam packed full of night owls!

I give up for this year on the meteors, but not on photographing the night sky.

The place above is only 2 hours away, maybe the panthers wouldn't eat me there. ~joke~

[Blaze]

Little Texan, did you check the maps I linked above and make sure you were in a dark area?

For the brief moment when I did step out of my car in the dark area, the sky was so incredibly beautiful, just like the pictures you see in the magazines.

I swear I felt a bit like a Borg as long as I was attached to my machine and it was active I was somewhat safe. But it is really difficult to steer, engage the petal and hand out the window looking sky ward.

[Little Texan]

I live out in the country, and although there is quite a bit of light pollution to the northeast of me (from Tyler, TX), the skies are dark where the meteors are supposed to be. The meteors are clearly visible on the rare occasions I've seen them.