A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them - www.photopills.com
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them www.photopills.com
Feel free to share this eBook © PhotoPills December 2018
Never Stop Learning
The Definitive Guide to Shoo-
ting Hypnotic Star Trails
How To Shoot Truly Conta-
gious Milky Way Pictures
Understanding Golden Hour,
Blue Hour and Twilights
7 Tips to Make the Next Su-
permoon Shine in Your Pho-
tos
MORE TUTORIALS AT PHOTOPILLS.COM/ACADEMY
Understanding How To Plan the
Azimuth and Milky Way Using
Elevation The Augmented
Reality
How to find moon-
How To Plan The
rises and moon-
Next Full Moon
sets
h o to P il ls Aw ards
P
d
yo u r p h oto s featured an
Get
cash prizes
win $6,600 in
Learn more+
Join PhotoPillers from around the
world for a 7 fun-filled days of learning
and adventure in the island of light!
Learn More
You’re about to learn all you need to enjoy watching and shooting one of the best late-night
shows served by nature: Meteor Showers.
Meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris entering the Earth’s atmosphere at ex-
tremely high speeds. Smaller fragments burn in the atmosphere producing a “shooting
star”, but the bigger ones can really produce an amazing big fireball.
And when the space rocks (meteoroids) of the Perseids, the Geminids or any other powerful
meteor shower enter Earth’s atmosphere, you’d better be ready for a great night of shoot-
ing stars.
My goal with this article, using the same words that the night photography Master Lance
Keimig uses in his most famous book, Night Photography and Light Painting, is to help
you:
”Find your way in the dark”
6
Content 1 Meteor shower calendar for 2019 8 2 Where to look or frame: the radiant? 10 3 The Meteor Showers’ key information 14 4 How to shoot a meteor shower 31 5 Inspiring meteor shower images 35 6 We’re rewarding creativity 40
Section 1: Meteor shower calendar for 2019 A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
The following table gives you all the key information about the most important and active meteor showers in 2019: Pay attention to the Moon phase percentage during the peak night. The more phase the worst conditions for the watching and shooting. As you see on the table, moonlight will be blocking the Lyrids, Perseids, Leonids and Gemi- nids. While, the conditions will be great for the Quadrantids, Eta Aquariids, Delta Aquariids and Orionids. Finally, the table also provides both the Radiant and constellation of origin of each meteor shower to help you know where to look or frame your camera. Meteor shower calendar for 2019 9
Section 2: Where to look or frame: the radiant? A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
During the meteor shower, you’ll observe that meteors radiate from one point in the night sky. This spot is called the radiant. Each radiant (the point of origin from where the meteors appear to converge) is located within or near the constellation that give the name to the meteor shower. For example, the radiant of the Geminids meteor shower is located in the constellation of Gemini, near the Castor star, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. But you don’t have to look in the direction of the meteor shower’s radiant point to see the most meteors. Meteors can appear in all parts of the sky. If you decide to introduce the radiant point in your frame and trace the path of the meteors backwards, you’ll realize that all meteors appear to converge to one single spot in the sky. In this case, if you’re lucky enough to capture many meteors, you can create a stunning effect by using the technique described in this video by David Kingham for image post- processing. By using David’s technique, Antoni Cladera (aka, the Photographer) could built the awesome cover image of this article. I love this effect. How can you locate the radiant? Where to look or frame: the radiant? 11
The position of the radiant in the sky is defined by two coordinates: Right Ascension and
Declination.
• Declination is the vertical angular distance between the center of a celestial body and
the celestial equator. A declination of +20° means that the celestial body is located 20°
north of the celestial equator. The south polar cap is at a declination of –90°, the equa-
tor is at declination 0°, and the north polar cap is at a declination of +90°. Declination
is to a celestial globe as latitude is to a terrestrial globe, a vertical positioning of an ob-
ject.
• Right Ascension is the angular distance measured eastward along the celestial equator
between the vernal equinox and the celestial body. Together with Declination, it de-
fines a position of a celestial body in the sky. It is measured in hours (1h equals to 15°),
minutes and seconds.
Yes, I know, both coordinates have horrible names and even worse definitions. The good
news is that you don’t need to understand the theory to use PhotoPills’ Night Augmented
Reality tool to locate the exact position of the radiant in the sky given by Right Ascension
and Declination. Take a look at the following video to learn how to do it. We help you lo-
cate the radiant of the Perseids (Right ascension 3h 4m, Declination +58°). It’s easier that
it seems, I promise ;)
Once you’ve located the radiant in the sky for both the beginning and the end of the shoot-
ing, you’ll know exactly the path the radiant will follow. Then, you’ll be able to frame at the
Where to look or frame: the radiant? 12right area of the sky to create an image with the same effect than David Kingham’s. Where to look or frame: the radiant? 13
Section 3: The Meteor Showers’ key information A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
The Quadrantids, December 28 to January 12 The Quadrantids, well known for their bright fireball meteors, which produce larger explo- sions of light and color, are also known to be tricky. With a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) reaching 120 meteors per hour, the Quadrantids could be the most powerful shower of the year. But it turns out that the peak only lasts a few hours, which makes it difficult to catch. The shower runs from December 28 to January 12. The best night for the watching is the one between the 3 and 4 of Januray. The Peak has been predicted for January 4 at 2 23am UTC. This is a great year for the Quadrantids, the Moon, with a phase of 4%, will let us enjoy the show. Unfortunately, this meteor shower is only visible from the northern hemisphere. These me- teors are not visible from the southern hemisphere. The Meteor Showers’ key information 15
Highlights: • When: December 28 to January 12, 2019 • Best night: January 3-4 • Peak: January 4 at 2 23am UTC • Moon Phase: 4% (good viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): 120 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 42 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Boötes • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 15h 28m, Declination +49.5º • Associated Asteroid: 2003 EH1 • Northern Hemisphere: Medium rate • Southern Hemisphere: Not visible The Meteor Showers’ key information 16
The Lyrids, April 14 to 30 With a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of just 20 meteors per hour, the Lyrids is an average shower. It runs from April 14 to 30. The best night for the watching is the one between the 22 and 23 of April. The Peak has been predicted for April 23 at 12 32am UTC. This year the challenge is to deal with a Moon phase of 85%. Moonlight will work against our interests washing out the stars... But PhotoPillers never give up :P This meteor shower is visible from both hemispheres. Although it’s weaker in the southern hemisphere. The Meteor Showers’ key information 17
Highlights: • When: April 14-30 2019 • Best night: April 22-23 • Peak: April 23 at 12 32am UTC • Moon Phase: 85% (poor viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +20 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 48 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Lyra • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 18h 08m, Declination +32º • Associated Comet: C/1861 G1 Thatcher (comet discovered in 1861) • Northern Hemisphere: Medium rate • Southern Hemisphere: Low rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 18
Eta Aquariids, April 19 to May 28 The Eta Aquariids is known for its high percentage of persistent trains, but few fireballs. It’s usually a very active meteor shower when viewed from the southern tropics. Its Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is 55 meteors per hour, but it gets down to 10-30 from the equator northward. It runs from April 19 to May 28. The best night for the watching is the one between the 6 and 7 of May. The Peak has been predicted for May 6 at 2 02pm UTC. Trying the night before and after is also a great idea. This is a great year for the Eta Aquariids, the Moon, with a phase of 1%, will let us enjoy the show. The meteor shower is best visible from the southern hemisphere. It’s also visible from the northern hemisphere but at a lower rate. The Meteor Showers’ key information 19
Highlights: • When: April 19 to May 28 2019 • Best night: May 6-7 • Peak: May 6 at 2 02pm UTC • Moon Phase: 1% (good viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +55 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 66 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Aquarius • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 22h 32m, Declination -1º • Associated Comet: 1P Halley • Northern Hemisphere: Medium rate • Southern Hemisphere: Good rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 20
Delta Aquariids. July 12 to August 23 As it happens with the Eta Aquariids, it’s better to watch this shower from the southern tropics. With a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 20 meteors per hour, do not expect to see many meteors. It runs from July 12 to August 23. The best night for the watching is the one between the 30 and 31 of July. The Peak has been predicted for July 30 at 5 21pm UTC. This is a great year for the Delta Aquariids, the Moon, with a phase of 6%, will let us enjoy the show. The meteor shower is best visible from the southern hemisphere. But it’s also also visible from the northern hemisphere but at a lower rate. The Meteor Showers’ key information 21
Highlights: • When: July 12 to August 23 2019 • Best night: July 30-31 • Peak: July 30 at 5 21pm UTC • Moon Phase: 6% (good viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +20 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 42 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Aquarius • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 22h 40m, Declination -16.4º • Associated Comet: Unknown, 96P Machholz suspected • Northern Hemisphere: Medium rate • Southern Hemisphere: Good rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 22
The Perseids, July 17 to August 24 The Perseids is considered to be the best meteor shower of the year. With a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of above 100 meteors per hour, the night of the peak is usually epic. It runs from July 17 to August 24. The best night for the watching is the one between the 12 and 13 of August. The Peak has been predicted for August 13 at 7 05am UTC. It’s a good idea to give it a try also the nights before and after. This year the challenge is to deal with a Moon phase of 94%. Moonlight will work against our interests washing out the stars... But PhotoPillers never give up :P The meteor shower is visible and intense in both hemispheres. The Meteor Showers’ key information 23
Highlights: • When: July 17 to August 24 2019 • Best night: August 12-13 • Peak: August 13 at 7 05am UTC • Moon Phase: 94% (poor viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +100 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 60 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Perseus • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 03h 04m, Declination +58º • Associated Comet: 109P/Swift-Tuttle (comet discovered in 1862) • Northern Hemisphere: High rate • Southern Hemisphere: High rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 24
The Orionids, October 2 to November 7 The Orionids are associated to the comet 1P/Halley, the same that’s associated to the Eta Aquariids in May. It’s an average shower with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of just 20 mete- ors per hour. It runs from October 2 to November 7. The best night for the watching is the one between the 21 and 22 of October. The Peak has been predicted for October 21 at 11 26pm UTC. This is a great year for the Orionids, the Moon, with a phase of 45%, won’t be a problem. Just use PhotoPills to check the time the Moon will set in your location and get ready for the show. The meteor shower is visible in both hemispheres. The Meteor Showers’ key information 25
Highlights: • When: October 4 to November 7 2019 • Best night: October 21-22 • Peak: October 21 at 11 26pm UTC • Moon Phase: 45% (good viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +20 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 66 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Orion • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 06h 20m, Declination +15.5º • Associated Comet: 1P/Halley • Northern Hemisphere: Low rate • Southern Hemisphere: Low rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 26
The Leonids, November 6 to 30 The Leonids has a peak above 100 meteors/hour every 33 years. The last great peak oc- curred in 2001, so we’ll have to wait until 2034! Usually, It’s an average shower with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of just 15 meteors per hour. It runs from November 6 to 30. The best night for the watching is the one between the 17 and 18 of November. The Peak has been predicted for November 18 at 4 46am UTC. The Moon, with a phase of 69%, will be an issue this year. It might block part of the meteors. So, use PhotoPills to check the time the Moon will set in your location and get ready for the show. The meteor shower should be visible in both hemispheres. The Meteor Showers’ key information 27
Highlights: • When: November 6 to 30 2019 • Best night: November 17-18 • Peak: November 18 at 4 46am UTC • Moon Phase: 69% (poor viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +15 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 71 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Leo • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 10h 08m, Declination +21.6º • Associated Comet: 55P/Tempel-Tuttle • Northern Hemisphere: Low rate • Southern Hemisphere: Low rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 28
The Geminids, December 4 to 17 For many astronomers, the Geminids is considered to be the queen of the meteor showers. The comet 3200 Phaethon is the cause of this meteor shower. With a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of +120 meteors per hour, you can expect to see a good number of bright meteors. It runs from December 4 to 17. The best night for the watching is the one between the 14 and 15. The Peak has been predicted for December 14 at 6 39pm UTC. This year the challenge is to deal with a Moon phase of 96%. Moonlight will work against our interests washing out the stars... But PhotoPillers never give up :P It’s visible from both hemispheres. Although it’s weaker in the southern hemisphere. The Meteor Showers’ key information 29
Highlights: • When: December 4 to 17 2019 • Best night: December 14-15 • Peak: December 14 at 6 39pm UTC • Moon Phase: 96% (poor viewing conditions) • Number (ZHR): +120 Meteors/hour • Meteors velocity: 35 km/s • Origin (radiant): constellation Gemini • Radiant coordinates: Right Ascension 07h 28m, Declination +32.2º • Associated Asteroid: 3200 Phaethon (discovered in 1982) • Northern Hemisphere: High rate • Southern Hemisphere: Medium rate The Meteor Showers’ key information 30
Section 4: How to shoot a meteor shower A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
In case you plan a night scape to shoot one of the meteor showers, the following recom-
mendations will help you get started with the shooting:
• Location: Go into an area with little light pollution.
• Framing: Make sure you’re framing the right area in the sky. You can use PhotoPills’
Night Augmented Reality tool to locate the radiant of the meteor shower.
• Focal length: Use the widest angle lens possible (at least 14mm) to capture the most
area of the sky.
• Aperture: Use a fast lens to collect as much light as possible. An aperture of f/2.8 is
great.
• Focusing: Focus at the hyperfocal distance. Make sure you’re not focusing at a shorter
distance, because you’ll get stars completely blurred, even if you miss it by one inch
(2.5cm). It’s much better to make focus exceeding the hyperfocal distance by 2 feet
rather than falling short. You can calculate the hyperfocal distance with our on-line
Depth of Field calculator. Also, learn all you need to know about hyperfocal distance
and depth of field with our extremely detailed DoF Guide.
• ISO: Set the ISO to the maximum level that your camera allows without getting exces-
sive noise (ISO 1600 or higher is recommended).
How to shoot a meteor shower 32• Exposure time: Use PhotoPills’ on-line Spot Stars calculator to calculate the maxi-
mum exposure time to get stars as bright spots. Usually, you’ll get a value between 20
and 35 seconds, depending on the camera and lens used.
• White Balance: With no light pollution, I recommend you to use a WB between 3,400K
and 4,000K.
• Interval: Use a shooting interval between 2 and 5 seconds to try to capture the maxi-
mum amount of meteors.
Regarding the equipment, in Step 7 of our tutorial “How to Shoot Truly Contagious Milky
Way Pictures”, you’ll find all you need no matter your level of expertise or budget. Make
sure to take a look at it.
But, knowing the camera, lens and tripod you’ll need is only the beginning. I recommend
you to also bring with you at least one heater strip to fight dew back!
One of the most annoying aspects of night photography is dealing with dew. Moisture in
the air can condense on the cold front surface of your lens, and ruin the photos. Getting a
How to shoot a meteor shower 33heater strip is a great way to save the night. The good news is that heater strips are very cheap (see again “Equipment against moisture” in step 7). Perhaps, the two most popular heater strip brands are Dew-Not and Kendrick. I use a Dew- Not 3” DN004, which perfectly fits my Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. This model has a length of 13” (33cm), enough for the diameter of the lens. Make sure you buy a strip that can go around the entire circumference of the lens. You’ll also need a portable battery and a cable connector. Dew heater Dew-Not 3” DN004 connected to a portable battery. Need more help? Take a look at our articles How To Shoot Truly Contagious Milky Way Pic- tures and The Definitve Guide to Shooting Hipnotic Star Trails. You’ll learn everything you need to imagine, plan and shoot stunning photos of the stars. And if you wish to learn face to face with us, the whole PhotoPills Team, along with a se- lected group of photography masters, don’t miss the PhotoPills Camp! How to shoot a meteor shower 34
Section 5: Inspiring meteor shower images A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
From stacking a great number of photos to create David Kingham’s effect or a powerful star trails image, to putting together a timelapse video, spending the whole night shooting a meteor shower can be very productive from the creative side. The following images and videos are the outcome of the Geminids Meteor shower in 2015. It was on Monday, December 14 2015, around 10pm local time, when the clouds disappeared from above our heads, leaving us face to face with one of the most active meteor showers we remember. We spent the next 5 hours shooting and enjoying the show. What an epic time! Timelapse The timelapse is the result of playing 647 still images at 24fps. Nikon D4s | 14mm | f2.8 | 30s | 5000 ISO Inspiring meteor shower images 36
Star trails Stacking of 647 photos. Nikon D4s | 14mm | f2.8 | 30s | 5000 ISO You can create stunning star trails by merging a series of short exposure photos into a sin- gle image using softwares like StarStaX (Mac, Windows, Linux) or Startrails (Windows). Inspiring meteor shower images 37
Meteor Exploding Who has seen the explosion of a meteor in the sky? We did! And with a smoky tail :) You never know what your camera will capture during the night. Each night scape is a dif- ferent adventure. Inspiring meteor shower images 38
Converging Meteors Nikon D4s | 14mm | f2.8 | 30s | 5000 ISO The image is the result of stacking 120 photos using David Kingham’s technique. To create this stunning effect, every photo has been rotated around Polaris to keep the radiant point of the meteor shower in the same place. This proves that all meteors appear to converge from one single point in the sky: the radiant. Inspiring meteor shower images 39
Section 6: We’re rewarding creativity A Guide to the Best Meteor Showers in 2019: When, Where and How to Shoot Them
To be featured on Instagram (@photopills), have the chance to become the next PhotoPiller of the Month or even the PhotoPiller of the Year and win up to $6,600 in cash prices, partici- pate in the PhotoPills Awards... and become a Legend! Many PhotoPillers have already been featured. See all the photos on our Instagram or within the PhotoPills app (PhotoPills > My Stuff > Awards). Happy Showers! We’re rewarding creativity 41
All photos in this articles have been taken by Antoni Cladera. Note: some links on this page are affiliate links. What does this mean? If you buy/rent using these links you’re helping support us and it costs you nothing extra. Thank you for your support. We’re rewarding creativity 42
www.photopills.com
You can also read
