Perseids Meteors 12 August

Dont forget the Perseids will be at maximum tonight and tomorrow evening. Problem is in Southern UK its already cloudy

Look towards the east as late as possible

More info here
www.strudel.org.uk...

Desperately tried to stay awake last night but didn't work out so well.Will try again tonight. It's supposed to be clear skies here.I have not watched the Perseids for years.

Originally posted by AccessDenied
Desperately tried to stay awake last night but didn't work out so well.Will try again tonight. It's supposed to be clear skies here.I have not watched the Perseids for years.

Tonight and tomorrow are the maxima. Its still a bit cloudy here but Im hoping it will clear up before this evening.

Thanks for the reminder. For some reason I thought the middle of August was still a couple of weeks away. (Where did July go????) I think it's gonna be cloudy in Scotland though. Shame.

I'm bumping this post in case some skywatcher forgets to go have a look outside tonight. The weather lady says the whole of the UK is to have very heavy rain and severe gales for the next few days (two months rainfall is predicted for Tuesday btw) but it's actually clear skies right now where I am.

Hay there people, I am seeing plenty off them tonight real clear sky in the south of the UK. Going to be stying up untill the early hours, Its great with the new moon best I have seen ever. Do hope others dont miss out!

I've just came in from my back garden. Clear skies in the North East of England aswell. I haven't seen many, just three. I'm thinking of going back outside in an hour to look for more.

Saw in S.E. Michigan, had to get out of the light pollution and they were cool. very bright white streaks. Worth the drive and staying up late.

Ok this might suck. I'm looking out the window at 6 PM in Texas and see some really nasty T-storms coming and I hope they clear up later. Since it is Sunday I will need to work tomorrow, another bummer on the watch.

I have a seven year old that been waiting for this day for about two months and a four year old that tells teenagers which lights in the sky are stars and which are planets while naming the planets and a few of the brighter stars.

I think the next big shower will be in December, and on the 24th of December Mars will be at its closest distance of the year to earth, it is also a full moon, so that might be an interesting night after all the holiday festivities.


[edit on 12-8-2007 by Xtrozero]

Does anyone have any tips on how to photograph the meteors?

My husband is a professional photographer so has just about every lens you can imagine and super equipment (I'm not allowed to touch!).
I'm hoping to get him to take some shots tonigt - he's never done this before.
The web is full of conflicting advice so I just thought I ask and see if theres any experts here before we try.

I went outside last night but didnt have a lot of luck. Didnt see anything, I was only looking for about tthe length of a cig. though.

Im gonna spend more time tonight.

Do you think any of the meteors will be big?

Originally posted by earthchild
Does anyone have any tips on how to photograph the meteors?

My husband is a professional photographer so has just about every lens you can imagine and super equipment (I'm not allowed to touch!).
I'm hoping to get him to take some shots tonigt - he's never done this before.
The web is full of conflicting advice so I just thought I ask and see if theres any experts here before we try.

very long exposures and wide angle lens.

Originally posted by earthchild
Does anyone have any tips on how to photograph the meteors?

A bit late, sorry, but perhaps you can use the info next time...

First and foremost, you want a tripod!

Fast lens and high ISO will help you catch more, and dimmer meteors, but you will also pick up more light pollution from artificial lights, so you may have to reduce your exposure time to take this into account. Go well away from any city/town/lights if you can!

Lens focal length - the wider the lens, the more chance you have of catching one in its field of view, but the trail will be shorter, and not as impressive as one caught on a shorter focal length lens. Ideally you want multiple cameras with normal (35-50mm) focal length lenses.

Exposure length should be as long as you can go without the sky "fogging". Test the sky fog limit before hand at your observing site, under similar conditions to the target night if you can.

Focus at infinity. Critical focus is hard to judge through a viewfinder, and the infinity mark on some lenses may be off, or they may focus passed infinity. I like to hook up to a laptop, and examine images @ 100% until precise focus is achieved manually.

A cable release is essential, though you can use a self timer if there is no other option.

Spare batteries or, even better, an external power source, if you plan to spend some time shooting is a good idea since the cold makes batteries run down quickly.

Usually you want to aim your lens away from the constellation from which the meteors are coming, as the trails will be longer and more photogenic.

Here are a few meteor photography links :

www.astropix.com...

www.saugus.net...

www.imo.net...

Calculate the efficiency of a camera setup of your choice for capturing meteors with the software on this page: www.analemma.de...

Great post Chud
It gives some good info and not just for photographing meteors, if you get my gist?