Summer meteor showers are heating up with significant numbers of fireballs - time to consider setting up a camera or two if you have not already!

[Leo S]

On 16/08/2023 at 13:03, Mr Magoo said:

I observed my best 2023 Perseid fireball last Wednesday around 11pm. I'm out observing all night tonight until dawn tomorrow, hope to see some stragglers. 

My observing dark site is miles from home so camera recording is not on the cards. Have to look into portable recording equipment, some of the meteor clips above are outstanding,

One of the big advantages of video is that it can handle light pollution much better (than taking long exposures). It's the main reason I've been getting into it (moved from a Bortle 3/4 to a 6). I don't worry so much if the Moon is up also, and that is often a problem for others using long exposures - so perhaps worth reconsidering setting a camera up at home.

Some of my best captures have occurred either with the Moon blazing away:

and:

https://vimeo.com/708888654 (not sure why this won't embed!)

 

Or when it was cloudy:

Situations that long exposures just don't handle very well, but video manages to cope!

The cameras I use are certainly portable. The a7SII will record 4K internally to card, so all you need is the camera + power (12v battery or power bank), and anti-dew heater. It's the current camera of choice for 4K 30FPS IMHO, although there are now numerous options.

If you (or anyone) wants to go down the video route, let me know, and I'll be happy to guide and advise you. It's still a relatively new thing for those of us who have adopted it so we are still learning and discovering new things.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by Leo S

[Leo S]

I posted this last night on the other Perseid thread, but I think it's also worth posting here in case anyone missed it. I stumbled across a piece by Joe Rao regarding the prospect of a Perseid storm or outburst in 2028. It's the first update I've come across in more than a decade, and the news is good! Joe Rao is one of the few space authors who really knows his stuff when it comes to meteors, so he is worth listening to, and because the 2028 max occurs while the Moon is a problem, it's another good reason I think to consider video over stills.

Joe Rao:

"Lastly, because recent perturbations by Jupiter are directing old Perseid meteoroids about 100,000 miles (160,000 km) closer to the sun than usual, the core of the broader, "traditional" stream may be shifted closer to Earth's orbit, resulting in a stronger-than-average annual shower. In fact, many meteor scientists now suspect that the Perseids tend to put on stronger-than-average displays at 12-year intervals (12 years being Jupiter's orbital period), and that 2028 is one of the favored years."

Of course this will mean a trip to the US, and I'm reluctant to travel these days, but with this latest update I'm finding myself tempted!

[Leo S]

I've been forgetting this thread and posting over in the "Perseid peak" thread instead, so here is the bright event from peak night (12 Aug) which I posted over there:

The event also attracted a few reports and submissions (including my own).

 

I also mentioned a fireball which one of the cameras only just missed, but caught the flash, a few nights back, early on  20 Aug. It has now also been included in the UKMON "Fireballs" page along with an analysis of the event - quite a significant event: -9.4 mag/ estimated initial mass of 48g

It was also quite a long way off, so impressive for the camera to catch anything - here's the footage, with the event occurring towards the bottom right of the frame, where the flash is most obvious: