From 2:20am at the peak of the 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower. The radiant seems correct for Leo rising in the east.
There is a rare amount of meteor detail in this shot. A particle streaks ahead of an awesome double afterglow and colorful train.
ISO 1600, K20D with an old Super Takumar m42 50mm 1:1.4 open all the way for 6 seconds and continuous.
I didn't crop or reframe the photo at all. The train even hung around for the the next exposure that started over 6 seconds later.
50mm isn't that big a field. I was about to switch to a much wider but slower lens. Glad I didn't, it is like the thing is posing for the 50mm.
A closeup of the afterglow is here.
A closeup of the persistent train as it was disintegrating over 6 seconds later is here.
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Explored Nov 17, 2009 #23
Seen on the Your Best Shot 2009 Starry Sky Flickr Blog entry.
More info about the setup here.
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Dangerous Dave Astrophotography, reiscakes, europeanasian, icecubephoto - trying to catch up, and 306 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 20 more comments
K. Bonson 39 months ago | reply
Hi! I'm an Admin of For The Love Of Science! Group and I would love for this photo to be added!
Filan 38 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called KISS (Keep it simple stupid), and we'd love to have this added to the group!
photography by jeff dixon 38 months ago | reply
amazing catch man!
I'm hoping to get out tonight for the lyrid even though the moon is out.
Navicore 38 months ago | reply
cool. me too. i tried this morning after the moon set but it was overcast.
gishmoon 37 months ago | reply
What an amazing shot!
~Urban Prowler~ (www.anshumm.com) 35 months ago | reply
outrageously lucky indeed. but very skillful as well. I haven't seen a paralell for this shot yet
danielle ouimet 34 months ago | reply
wow!! very beautiful!!
Taylor Burnes 34 months ago | reply
Nice detail.
Omiso 34 months ago | reply
great image!!! well done!!
Kpax Smith 34 months ago | reply
very cool ... great capture
Kuzeyli48 33 months ago | reply
Wow!! Cool catch ;o))
henryjones1983 33 months ago | reply
muahadu 31 months ago | reply
this is awesome!
BobbyUllmann 30 months ago | reply
that is a incredible shot.
jasonwchan 29 months ago | reply
Oh wow, I commented on the wrong meteor shot! Now THIS one is stunning! Great job, lucky indeed! ;)
Alex Quiambao 22 months ago | reply
wow perfect framing...very nice my friend
PM Breakfast 20 months ago | reply
This is like winning the Lottery! Spectacular!
Ivan . 14 months ago | reply
Fantastic work..!! is a great example to follow.
DrWurm 9 months ago | reply
I saw this meteor in San Luis Obispo! I'm glad you got a photo of it, so I know I wasn't hallucinating that it was white-violet. After I saw it, I did some quick trigonometry which seemed to indicate it passed right overhead of Santa Barbara. Sure enough, I looked a day or two later and found this news blurb and photo: www.keyt.com/younews/70330322.html
Navicore 9 months ago | reply