twinkling, spinning, and shooting.
Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.
Theodore Roosevelt
I felt very lucky this week to have clear and dark skies for the Perseid Meteor showers and it was quite the show!
These showers occur as Earth crosses the orbital path of the comet Swift-Tuttle and bits of debris hit the atmosphere creating these fast-moving meteors. The radiant point for the showers is the Perseus constellation.
I set up early for the event anticipating a long night and dragged a camping cot out into my pasture. Much nicer than laying on the ground and easier on the neck too for hours of viewing!
I got butterflies in my stomach as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I waited to see the first of many meteors streak across the sky. Some were brief flashes while others left wonderful trails that lingered for several seconds. While viewing my images the next day I was excited to see several shots with double meteors in them. One even had two streaking along on a parallel course.
I was grateful that my Nikon has a built-in intervalometer so that I could set up sequenced shots and be shooting while I kept my eyes on the stars. The first image is a compilation of over 100 shots as the stars moved across the sky.
Was I tired the next day? Perhaps a little. Was it worth it? In the words of a friend…indeed!
it's (almost always) about the water... 