A is for Astrophotography

In case you missed it, last month was the annual Perseid Meteor shower and this year its peak occurred over a weekend! Needless to say, I took full advantage of the timing. I went camping with one roommate on Friday night (learned that my sedan was not made for me to sleep in, because short as my legs may be, I still need to be able to them out and move them in my sleep). Then I drove out to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) with my other roommate on Saturday night for a second shot at capturing a beautiful gleam of light in the night sky.

As previously stated the Perseid Meteor Shower happens every year, starting in July and ending September 1st, with its peak usually occurring mid-August. And unfortunately for some, it is best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, my condolences to the Southern half of the globe. Although the shower is named after the constellation Perseus (because the meteors appear to radiate out from Perseus), they are actually produced in our night sky as Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet on our yearly trip around the sun. Provided you are far enough away from city light pollution, you can see up to 100 meteors per hour during the showers peak.¹

Now, with great odds like that you would think capturing an image of one of these flaming balls of light dashing across the sky would be a simple matter, right?

**Insert frustrated sigh**

Maybe not so much. In fact, on Saturday night while I was at RMNP with my friend, it became a bit of a funny joke. Usually when I go out star gazing anywhere within two hours of Denver, at some point, someone will pull up and start watching with me (I wonder if it might be an innate trait of humanity, that when we are alone in the dark wilderness, we like to find someone else to be around, like some kind of safety in numbers thing). Anyways, that night was no different. Lo and behold, anytime there was a brilliant streak flying across the sky, someone would shout out, “Did you see that? Did you get it?” And my response was always a slightly defeated laugh, followed by “No, my camera was processing.”

Needless to say, if anyone reading this happens to be amazing at astrophotography and wanted to drop a comment with your meteor shower settings below, I and my future endeavors would be beyond grateful. **Thanks**

But all in all, it was a great weekend with friends, filled with campfires, marshmallows, and chatting with strangers. Plus, over the course of two days, I was able to get a photo that I am actually pretty proud of:

And as the motivational speakers on social media keep reminding me, practice makes progress. I have grown a lot of skills over the last few years, and the more I get out there and practice, the better I will become. So, next month I will be taking full advantage of another astronomy packed weekend, because Saturday, October 14th will not only have a new moon (hello astrophotography at a “nearby” dark sky site), but it will also have a solar eclipse!! As you can tell from the double exclamation point, I’m pretty freaking excited.

Anyways, I hope you get the chance to go out and see some of the amazing creation that will be on display this next month, and I will write to you all later. Hopefully with some fun new photos to share. Take care!