Geminids Meteor Shower 2010

kdog

Anybody see the Geminids meteor shower on Monday night? I watched in them Death Valley from midnight to 2:00 AM with fellow Dgrin member, David "Shutter" Ryan. The meteors were plentiful and it was an impressive show. We saw at least a hundred of them and I managed to capture 23 of them with my camera. However, even though they looked great in person, most of them came out pretty faint in the camera. Here are the two best shots. The first two are crops. ISO3200, F2.8, 30s exposures, 16mm, on full-frame sensor.





Here's an uncropped version of the second one.

I'm assuming the big bright blobs are planets and galaxies. All in all, it was a bit disappointing from a photographic standpoint. Some day I hope to get a really big fireball meteor, so I intend to keep trying.

Thanks for looking, and feel free to add your own shots if you've got them.

Cheers,
-joel

CanonFan

Cool! I want to try this type shot ; been yrs since I did this with 35mm to capture star trails. Very nice feeling of freedom and solitude, in your shot!

dlplumer

Fabulous shots Joel. I believe the "big blobs" are clusters, not planets.

What was the weather like in DV, and let's see some more shots (please)

kdog

CanonFan wrote: »

Cool! I want to try this type shot ; been yrs since I did this with 35mm to capture star trails. Very nice feeling of freedom and solitude, in your shot!

Thanks, CanonFan. I'm always very impressed by folks who used to do this sort of thing on film. My dad used to do stuff like that. I liked your comment about freedom and solitude. Death Valley has plenty of that, once you venture off the beaten paths.

dlplumer wrote: »

Fabulous shots Joel. I believe the "big blobs" are clusters, not planets.

What was the weather like in DV, and let's see some more shots (please)

Thanks, Dan! The weather in Death Valley was great. Chilly mornings and evenings, and light jacket to T shirt during the day. Partially cloudy skies made star photography challenging, but made for excellent sunsets and sunrises. So many shots to process, so little time. :cry (SOME of us still work for a living. )

Cheers,
-joel

bgarland

I love these night sky shots. The meteors just take it up another notch.

Nicely done Joel. DV has to be one of the better areas in the Southern US for night work and you took full advantage of the opportunity. Very clean and detailed images.

Now go process the rest of them and post them up.

kdog

bgarland wrote: »

I love these night sky shots. The meteors just take it up another notch.

Nicely done Joel. DV has to be one of the better areas in the Southern US for night work and you took full advantage of the opportunity. Very clean and detailed images.

Now go process the rest of them and post them up.

Thanks, Brad. DV is awesome in every way, except for one. Too many pictures to process. :bash

Dogdots

These are awesome ... thumb