It's a-rainin' me...teors

Hey, it's been a long time (again). I feel like I've forgotten more than I ever knew about astronomy over the nearly 2 year blog hiatus but it's never too late to get back in the saddle.

Dew, no bueno

Last night was the peak of this year's Perseid meteor shower. I packed up my photo gear, my daughter packed up the bedding and snacks she requires, and we headed out to Mingo Observatory for a late night. The media likes to drum up excitement for the Perseids in particular by saying, "This shower is predicted to be very active!" This, of course, means nothing. Still, the main reason most of us go out and sit all night is the possibility of the ever elusive "meteor storm". I always assume this phenomenon occurs as soon as I call it a night, get in bed, and close my eyes. This is why you stay out until it's 3am and your camera lens has fogged over.

Car lights, also no bueno

The sky was clear and the moon had set in early evening, it was a perfect night. We arrived to quite the crowd out at the observatory. There had to have been 300 people there at one point. I was glad to see a large crowd out to stargaze but that also means there are cars (with giant bright lights blazing) and flashlights all over the place. This naturally makes photography, and even seeing the stars, difficult to say the least. Remember folks, when you're out observing, limit all white light (use red light if needed) and when arriving or leaving after dark use only your parking lights (trust me, you can see just fine, go slow).  It takes approx 45 minutes to fully adjust your eyes to the dark (you can see surprisingly well enough) but it only takes seconds to ruin that adjustment.

Enough lecturing, here's some shots. I captured very few meteors and some unfortunately were caught during a taillight parade. I did play around with some full Milky-Way panoramic stitches, you can definitely see the light pollution problem we face in SW PA.

This one happened just as my exposure stopped and cut it short.
Check out the green tail on it though!

This was prety cool but the car lights interfered a bit.

Starting to fog over the lens but nabbed this one.
You can see the Pleiades and even the Double Cluster (M103)

Pretty little guy in the Summer Triangle.
This was straight up.
Bonus points: find the "coat-hanger" asterism (Brocchi's cluster)

Milky-Way towards Sagittarius
Galactic center, lots of stuff going on in there

Milky-way up and over from South to North (upside down)
Thanks for all the light Pittsburgh.
11 frames stitched
Bonus points: find the Andromeda Galaxy

Lightning and light pollution

On Friday 5/25/12 our area was hit with some very severe weather but it was supposed to clear quickly afterward.  So, not willing to waste a day off, I decided to head out to the observatory to wait out the storm.  With the 360 degree view at a nice elevation it is perfect storm watching site as well.  The storm was in full swing when I arrived but it wasn't on top of us yet.  I quickly set up the tripod and using my shutter release to  keep the shutter going at 30 sec exposures, it was dark so no need to worry about over exposure.

Lightning is one of the most impressive and surprisingly one of the easiest things to photograph if you don't over think it.  Don't waste your time trying to snap as it happens, you'll only frustrate yourself.  If you have a nighttime storm just set up a tripod and shoot continuously at 30 sec with a wide aperture, pour some wine and get comfy (and safe).  For a daytime storm close the aperture and use shorter exposure times.   Just make sure to grab your gear when the rain hits if you don't have a rain cover (link is the super cheap one I use).

As the night went on the storm moved south and the stars were visible above the thunderheads. Saturn and Spica are the most prominent objects above the clouds. All these shots were taken between 11pm and 1am.

Here's best shots out of 200 or so:

This is the shot I was waiting for!

Bright stars on the left are Saturn (upper) and Spica (lower)

When the sky finally cleared it was such low transparency and seeing was so poor that we didn't even bother opening the observatory roof.

  

__________________

With summertime nearing, the Milky Way has been rising in time for some interesting photo ops.  I've been trying to get a shot of the Milky Way arching over this particular dirt road or weeks and after 3 different tries I have something finally worth showing.   Last night (5/27/12) I returned to this site located near the very rural Spartansburg, PA.  While very rural you can still see the dramatic effects of light pollution.  I'm anxiously awaiting the airing of the documentary The City Dark on PBS on July 5.  I strongly urge you to watch and in the meantime, if you must have glaring property lights get some motion detectors or sky friendly fixtures and bulbs.  Reconnect with the stars, there's a whole Universe out there.  People need to realize we're part of something much bigger.

TURN THE LIGHTS OUT!
180 degrees, from Cassiopeia to Scorpius