Geminids 2009
Unusually for a major meteor shower peak, this year's Geminid meteor shower peaked on a night that happened to be free from cloud, at least over a small part of the UK. A small portion of clear sky looked set to be over the SE corner of the UK according to the Met-office forecast, and although not ideal in terms of light-pollution, I decided to take a chance and drive to the New Forest for the Geminids peak on the night of 13th/morning of the 14th.
The view from my observing site as the sun was setting
Date/Time: 13th December 2009
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ F4
Exposure: 1/15
ISO: 200
For the first time I would be running five DSLRs at the same time in an effort to capture some meteor photographs, and as I was setting up, I caught my first meteor (actually it may have been a satellite flare) of the night. I knew this was going to be a good night!
After finishing setting up, I climbed into my sleeping bag, but left the cameras off for the time being, since I wanted to wait until I was seeing good rates. The show was obviously already underway, and I saw 7 Geminid earth grazers early on so I started the cameras, and once again settled in to observe.
At one point (must have been some time before midnight) a New Forest pony took an interest in me and my camera equipment, and kept me company for a good part of the night, wondering off once, only to return later on.
Ursa Major and "Pegasus"
Date/Time: 14th December 2009
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 30D
Lens: Nikon 14mm f2.8 AF-D lens @ f2.8
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
The clouds rolled in a few times, and I was forced to stop them and wait for them to clear away. Later on, the battery I was using to power my cameras ran down, and I had to swap it with a spare I had. Unfortunately, after connecting the new battery, I couldn't get power to the cameras for some reason, so I resorted to powering the cameras with their own batteries. That, and trying to straighten out my sun-lounger which I knocked over in the dark, which then refused to go flat afterwards, lost me a big chunk of observing time.
Despite this, I visually observed around 500 Geminids, and caught 93 meteors on the cameras, which I ran on and off from about 1900UT to about 0500UT the next morning. I decided to pack up at this time since I was starting to feel tired, and it was becoming foggy, not to mention that by this time all but one camera was running.
The first catch of the night, while I was setting up the cameras. Possibly a satellite flare. Confirmed as Helios 1B (99-64A) #25977 (Thanks to Stella for the identification).
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 17:52:52 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS @ f2.2
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Crop from the above photograph
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 21:39:50 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS @ f2.2
Exposure: 20 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 22:47:26 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Lens: Nikon 50mm f1.8 AIS @ f2.0
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Crop from the above photograph
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 00:40:54 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Lens: Nikon 50mm f1.8 AIS @ f2.0
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 21:39:50 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: 24mm 1.4L Mk1@ 1.4
Exposure: 20 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 22:43:22 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: 24mm 1.4L Mk1@ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 00:02:09 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: 24mm 1.4L Mk1@ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 02:14:40 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: 24mm 1.4L Mk1@ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 13th December 2009 21:39:38 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 00:40:45 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 01:07:39 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Two Geminids on one frame!
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 02:58:52 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 03:08:13 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
This "meteor" may in fact be a satellite flare! Confirmed as DMSP (88-06A) #18822 (Thanks to Stella for the identification)
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 04:31:39 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Crop from the above photograph
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 04:39:18 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
The last meteor that I captured that morning, and a triple-flaring sporadic!
Date/Time: 14th December 2009 05:37:04 UT (+/- 1sec)
Location: The New Forest (50.8361,-1.72823)
Camera: Canon EOS 1DsII
Lens: 35mm 1.4L @ 1.4
Exposure: 15 Seconds
ISO: 800
Crop from the above photograph
-
All images (C) Leo Stachowicz 1999-2009
Please send any comments, suggestions or questions here