Perseids 2013

[gaa_ian]

Someone has to start the Perseids thread as we have now entered this stream. So it might as well be IIS's most northerly active member (I would love it if you can contradict me on that ;) )
Anyhow, the Perseids have been in the space news already with NASA's announcement that they have the highest rate of Fireballs of all the recognised meteor showers. Early fireballs have already been spotted !
I have found this to be the most consistent & appealing Meteor Shower of the year & the further North you are the better it is.
This year I will be in Cairns for the peak (https://www.facebook.com/FNQAstronomers?ref=hl)and I am hoping a few other keen Meteor Shower watchers will join me in the cool morning air to observe this shower.
Even if you are not lucky enough to be in FNQ at this delightful time of year, It would be great to hear of your Perseids experience here :thumbsup:
If you have never got up in the early hours of the morning to watch a meteor shower, I can highly recommend it (even better with a thermos of hot coffee)

[waterrat]

I'm always down for some Perseid action. About 03:30 start time this far South always worth it though. Might go to Mt Coot-tha this time and see what can be seen from an elevated spot.

[RobF]

Would love to able to get there.
Correction - I think you're our most northerly Australian active member Ian? :D :thumbsup:

[gaa_ian]

LOL ...thanks for the correction Rob :-)
I am just hoping someone pops up from Bamaga up on Cape York or Perhaps Bathurst Island Nth of Darwin !
You should still get a pretty good look from Brisvagus, at least you will get to see 1/2 of them !

[gaa_ian]

I recon you have the right Idea there Greg, the lights of the city might be a bit of a bugga though ? I normally view over the water to the North of Nhulunbuy and get a nice dark sky. Maybe Manly or Sandgate or Mt Cotton might give you the same down there ?

[Suzy]

baaaaaah! I just came on here to post about and you beat me to it by a matter of hours. :lol:
I've done a jam packed informative article on the IIS facebook page this morning, so if you don't mind I'll just pop it in here. :)

I always look forward to hearing your meteor shower obs, Ian, so I look forward to hearing about how you go with this one :D.
Crikey, I still remember how well you did up there with last years Geminids! :eyepop:

I've never seen the Perseids before so I'm really looking forward to this one. Not sure how I'll go though as it's quite low on my horizon, from memory I think Algol sits about 20-ish degrees. I'll give it a go anyway! :D I'd just stepped outside a few days ago and within a minute I saw a really bright one NW so I'm guessing that was a Perseid. It pays to empty the rubbish :P:lol:.

[Suzy]

The Perseid Meteor Shower on the night of August 11th/ morning of August 12th.

The Perseids are classed as the best meteor shower of 2013, and new research from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office identifies the Perseids as the "fireball champion" of annual meteor showers.
Richard Talcott of Astronomy Magazine says,"you can expect to see up to 100 “shooting stars” per hour".
The Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower is still active so combined with the Perseid Meteor Shower peak, and the bonus of the moon being out the way, hopefully it'll turn out to be a meteor shower extravaganza!

ScienceCast: Perseid Fireballs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO83KP54YXs

From Astronomy Magazine .....
"If predictions hold, observers across eastern Europe and northern Asia could witness 100 meteors per hour if they watch under clear dark skies. Viewers in North America should see up to 80 meteors per hour — still an average of more than one per minute — in the hour or two before twilight starts to break shortly after 4 a.m. local daylight time. If cloudy skies prevail on the 12th, look on the morning of the 13th, when rates will be somewhat lower but still impressive."
Loads of info here: http://bit.ly/17urZyr (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F17urZ yr&h=MAQHk-I9Q&s=1)

Check out the handy Fluxtimator- a Java applet that allows you to calculate the expected shower rate for a given date and a given location: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fleonid.arc.nas a.gov%2Festimator.html&h=RAQHHbABT&s=1)

"Top 10 Meteor Shower Facts" from Space.com:
http://bit.ly/13fEvxZ (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F13fEv xZ&h=rAQHDbwKJ&s=1)

From Universe Today .....
"The Moon reaches New phase on August 6th at 5:51 PM EDT/ 9:51 Universal Time (UT) and will be a 32% illuminated waxing crescent around the anticipated peak for the Perseid meteors on August 12th. And speaking of which, the Perseids are infamous for presenting a double-fisted twin peak in activity. This year, the first climax for the shower is predicted for around 13:00 UT on August 12th, favoring Hawaii and the North American west coast, and the second peak is set to arrive 13 hours later at 02:00 UT, favoring Europe & Africa.
Nodal crossing for the Perseid stream and Earth’s orbit sits right around 18:00 to 21:00 UT on August 12th for 2013. The shower derives its name from the constellation Perseus, and has a radiant located near Gamma Persei at right ascension 3 hours 4 minutes and a declination of +58 degrees. Atmospheric velocities for the Perseids are on the high end as meteor showers go, at 59km/sec."
Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/103826/the-2013-perseid-meteor-shower-an-observers-guide/#ixzz2axOs7x5q (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.universeto day.com%2F103826%2Fthe-2013-perseid-meteor-shower-an-observers-guide%2F%23ixzz2axOs7x5q&h=hAQFmVz31&s=1)

If you are a registered member, Sky & Telescope are offering a free e-book, "Shooting Stars" to enhance your experience.
http://bit.ly/1bUNbj2 (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1bUNb j2&h=CAQFveSZt&s=1)

Want to have a go at photographing the event?
David Kingham Photography (https://www.facebook.com/kinghamphotography?directed_target_ id=0) has written "Complete Guide to Photograph the 2013 Perseids Meteor Shower".
http://bit.ly/1bMp0Df (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1bMp0 Df&h=eAQHDPMfw&s=1)

Get the viewing times (& loads of info) for your location here:
http://www.spacedex.com/perseids/ (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spacedex.c om%2Fperseids%2F&h=XAQEkwm_0&s=1)

[gaa_ian]

Good on you Suzy :thumbsup: it is great to have another keen meteor observer out there willing to dish up such good information !
I was inspired by a great showing of meteors at last nights observing night up here in Nhulunbuy. Radiant appeared to be around the region of Centaurus ?

[ath]

^^^Awesome post Suzy, thanks for the links and the info! Despite being in Vic I'll be out looking next weekend for sure. I have been outside looking at the skies the last few months on most clear nights where I can and have noticed more Meteors than usual in the last few days. I saw the 2nd most intense meteor I've ever seen in my life on Thursday night close to the NE horizon at about 7.50PM EST. I had my camera out but wasn't exposing at the time :( Damn... Thanks again.

Edit: Oh and thanks for the email updates Ian, I didn't realize that I'm on your mailing list until now. :)

Small world!!

[waterrat]

Or if I could get onto somewhere like Mr Nebo or somewhere a bit further out and kind of norwest of the city. Although Mr Cotton sounds like a good idea! Few days to pick the spot yet :)

[JB80]

I'm looking forward to this greatly. For the first time I'll have decent skies to observe from at home.
Maybe I'll buy one of those floaty mattress' for the pool with a beer holder. :D

I've seen a few each night last week too so hoping to get a couple on camera before the peak. We'll see.

[gaa_ian]

While out photographing the conjunction this morning I saw several bright Perseids along with some southern Delta Aquarids !

[waterrat]

That's cool! Must get out of the city!!

[ZeroID]

Well, the Fluxtimator estimates for my location is a whopping great .... '0' nothing, nada, none, zero, zilch for any night around there.
I don't beleive that to be quite accurate to be honest although with the current cloud predictions it may as well be. :sadeyes:

I assume early Monday morning to be the best possible bet ?
In between clouds last night through the binos I'm sure I've been picking up small hits but they are so quick and the clouds so fast, well you never know do you ? :shrug:

[Derek Klepp]

Ian just chanced on this thread and have been out early also trying for the conjunction . On review of some pics especially those towards the Magellenic clouds I noticed several meteors in a 30s snap on consecutive pics.Here are the pics. One is looking East. I have seen a few to the north but will have a better look over the next week. I am viewing from the Breakwall at Brunswick Heads.

[JB80]

Nice pics. :)

Not sure if this is a silly question or not but I'll ask anyway.

Does the length of exposure effect the meteors brightness in the picture?
For instance if you had caught the same meteor on a 30 sec exp and the other on a 3 minute one would the build up of the exposure dim the meteor?

[sil]

No, once the film or sensor has been exposed to a photon it stays "captured" and won't dim if photons are no longer coming from the same spot.

However what you will lose is contrast as the dark areas slowly accumulate more light or image noise. So for example an area of the sky that is black in a 30sec exposure will become lighter in a 3min one, how light depends on conditions and where you are shooting. So as the "background" blackness of space in a widefield shot grows lighter, the meteor stays the same brightness but is now less noticable against the brighter background.

Some meteors are very faint so you probably won't want the background sky to be too light. A longer exposure will give you a better chance of capturing multiples in one shot and steadier (longer) satellite trails (so you don't confuse a short segment of satellite trail as a meteor).

[nebulosity.]

I was inspired by a great showing of meteors at last nights observing night up here in Nhulunbuy. Radiant appeared to be around the region of Centaurus ?[/QUOTE]

On Sunday night I saw an awesome fire ball shoot down from Centaurus, one of the brightest I've seen.:eyepop:

[gaa_ian]

Sounds great Jo, I wonder if there is a minor shower active in the area ?
Your from Cecil Plaims Eh ! ... I had my first big Hang Gliding cross country flight out there back in the mid 80's ! Great memories of landing next to a local pub to the amazement of the locals :-)

[bobbyf]

Hi there.
I shot 30sec each the last time i tried to shoot meteors, and i thought i was going to capture some bright ones, based on visuals, but sadly they were pretty dim. For this weekend, i was going to boost ISO and go down to 10-15 secs in an attempt to increase sensitivity. I'll just use the intervelometer on my D7000. It could be my lens only being F4 (sigma 10-20mm)but i was hoping for better.
Will hope for some clear skies (not looking likely though) and some good fireballs!
Cheers
Bob

[Derek Klepp]

Ian was out again this morning and although not visible to the naked eye I once again caught several meteors around the Magellenic clouds any idea what this shower is.

[JB80]

Thanks Sil and Bob, the contrast thing makes sense. I was just wondering if darker photons would register on the sensor afterwards essentially covering it up.

I think that's what I'll try is to reduce the length and boost ISO. I'll put it on the Polarie anyway. I still have a few nights experimention to work something out.

[JB80]

There are a number of showers at the moment but not all of them will be bright enough to see much.

The North Delta Aquariids
Piscis Austrinids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Delta_Aquariids
Beta Cassiopeids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Capricornids possibly.
Eta Eridanids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Cygnids

[ZeroID]

Clear skies here last two nights but no activity spotted from any radiant. Checked early this morning as well (5:30 am) but nup.
I think we're scheduled for serious clouds and rain from here on in but I'll keep the binos handy and the eyes peeled.

[Suzy]

:lol: So Brent, the "Fluximeter" was spot on for your area then with "0" :P:rofl:
Sorry... shouldn't be laughing :help: But I still am:question::help:

It tells me 7 an hour for my area, which would be about right going by other showers I've seen from home.

[JB80]

http://www.imo.net/

According to observations things seem to be winding up.

[ZeroID]

Got up this morning about 5:30 am, stood outside with a cuppa till I gave up. Still no meteors although I did see a nice satellite heading NE. I warned it about the approaching meteors so it got a move on .... :P

Went inside, had breakfast then just before heading off to work with the sky lightening i had another quick look in a NE direction. Could just make out Orions Belt in the sky when two quick flashes just Sth of Saiph caught my eye.
Fluxtimator got it wrong !!

Weather for the weekend is predicted not good but it keeps clearing the skies so fingers crossed.

[nebulosity.]

I was out observing last night and in about half an hour I saw six meteors, including another bight one in Centaurus.

I got the camera taking some wide fields towards the north at the moment, trying to catch any early Perseids.

Looking forward to seeing some pics from you northern guys.

Jo

[JB80]

Fingers crossed for some pics, I haven't the greatest of views but I might be able to sniff a good angle out with the 18mm.
Actually I have excellent NE views but come night they are ruined by street lights.

[Liz]

Yes Ian, I plan to be out over the next 2 mornings, weather permitting. Perseus rises here about 2.30, so will set the alarm for about 4am when it has risen a bit. Good luck from Cairns. :thumbsup:

[Liz]

Oh, you are in Spain now Jarrod, hola and wow. Had a night in Alicanti on 'My Iberian Dream' tour, 2 years ago. Lovely waterfront town and castle.
Good luck with the Perseids, you willl probably see waaay more than us southerners. :thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Check this most incredible image of a Perseid captured by Fraser Gunn in New Zealand. :eyepop: I popped it on the IIS fb page and it went crazy with the shares. I'd also like to pop it here with the write up I posted with the pic as it's really interesting information.

145225

Sweeeeeeeeet! Perseid fireball caught in the act!
Credit: Fraser Gunn Astrophotography (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fraser-Gunn-Astrophotography/486936591329546?directed_target_id= 0)

Now I hear some people wondering why is it green?
Read on....


Can fireballs appear in different colors?

Vivid colors are more often reported by fireball observers because the brightness is great enough to fall well within the range of human color vision. These must be treated with some caution, however, because of well-known effects associated with the persistence of vision. Reported colors range across the spectrum, from red to bright blue, and (rarely) violet. The dominant composition of a meteoroid can play an important part in the observed colors of a fireball, with certain elements displaying signature colors when vaporized. For example, sodium produces a bright yellow color, nickel shows as green, and magnesium as blue-white. The velocity of the meteor also plays an important role, since a higher level of kinetic energy will intensify certain colors compared to others. Among fainter objects, it seems to be reported that slow meteors are red or orange, while fast meteors frequently have a blue color, but for fireballs the situation seems more complex than that, but perhaps only because of the curiosities of color vision as mentioned above.

The difficulties of specifying meteor color arise because meteor light is dominated by an emission, rather than a continuous, spectrum. The majority of light from a fireball radiates from a compact cloud of material immediately surrounding the meteoroid or closely trailing it. 95% of this cloud consists of atoms from the surrounding atmosphere; the balance consists of atoms of vaporized elements from the meteoroid itself. These excited particles will emit light at wavelengths characteristic for each element. The most common emission lines observed in the visual portion of the spectrum from ablated material in the fireball head originate from iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na). Silicon (Si) may be under-represented due to incomplete dissociation of SiO2 molecules. Manganese (Mn), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu) have been observed in fireball spectra, along with rarer elements. The refractory elements Aluminum (Al), Calcium (Ca), and Titanium (Ti) tend to be incompletely vaporized and thus also under-represented in fireball spectra.

Source: American Meteor Society,
Read More: http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/faqf/#5

[Auto]

Planning on going camping Tuesday night, where is a open clear space an hour from Brisbane where I can take my dog and camp the night?

[Octane]

Did anyone see any last night? It was quite uneventful. Didn't photograph any.

Trying again tonight.

H

[Liz]

I was out for an hour this am, from 0415 but we had a light layer of scattered cloud. Saw 3 meteors, 2 from the SW ?Aquarids, but 1 boomer of a Perseid hurtling out of Perseus into Orion, and very bright and smokin - a bolide I believe. Will try again tomorrow am when at the peak. :)

I said Bolide, but perhaps a fireball per this explaination -

Most meteors observed during a shower are no larger than a few millimeters in size. However, brighter meteors, known as fireballs and bolides, appear occasionally. A fireball is not precisely defined, but generally refers to a meteor with a peak brightness equal to or greater than any of the planets. A bolide is a meteor brighter than magnitude -14, or about four times brighter than the Moon. On occasion, bolides will survive the trip through the atmosphere to land as meteorites.

http://www.gizmag.com/2013-perseid-meteor-shower-fireball-king/28605/

[ZeroID]

Does hail count ? ... :shrug: I thought not .... :sadeyes:

Nice picture from Fraser at least. Wow !

[JB80]

It's a nice little town, this time of year though it's hugely busy with tourists intent on getting sun burn.
We are a little bit further inland from the coast which has a little better sky quality despite all the street lights.

As for last night, it was a disaster. I only saw 4 up until 2am and left the camera rolling. I get up to change the battery and take some darks and when I finally check the pics there is like 240 darks and 4 lights.
Gutted by that, I don't know if the darks over writ the data or the camera stopped after taking 4 pictures.
Not happy about that.

[Suzy]

Hi Tim,

Just out of Brisbane, Lake Moogerah camping ground is a much visited site by my fellow astro buddies. I've not been there before but plan on heading there this summer. I've seen pics from there that my astro friends have taken and the horizon looks fabulous. BBQ's camping etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Moogerah


Though the Perseid peak in Australia is Tuesday morning (13th)- a time of maximum views! :D

http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/australian-perseid-meteor-shower.html

http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/southern-hemisphere-perseid-update-11.html


H, good luck for tonight! :thumbsup: I'll look forward to some pics if you're able to nab any.

Liz- I'm jealous! Oh If I see nothing else tonight in activity, but just one or two fireballs in a two hour period will keep me grinning for a long time! The Geminids last December gave some terrific fireballs with trails. I was viewing them with my daughter. I recall so well the unison echo of "whoaaaaaaaa" while our heads moved and eyes like stunned deers in headlights was funny and memorable. :lol: Great times! The Geminids is the one shower we do together. When I'm no longer here and part of dust, we have a pact that she keeps viewing them and she thinks of me. :) How long that will last I don't know.:P:lol:

Looking forward to your report this coming morning, you lucky guys up there. :D
Loved that description in that link, it explained things nicely, thank you.

[lynkim1]

:question: Is there an easy way to work out whether the random streaks in photos are just satellites or possibly meteors or some other random event?

Sometimes it's obvious:

1. If a line has a steady brightness and width, I think I can safely assume that it was a satellite... especially if it continues through more than one image lol

2. When there are multiple really cool looking streaks, radiating from one point... :eyepop: ...then I can probably assume that my zoom lens has suffered from the effects of gravity and closed up, again.:rofl:

BUT... what about the lines that "fade in" and or "fade out"?
Could these be meteors?
What if there are combinations of both type in one image?
Is there a reliable way to work it out :question:

[naskies]

Maybe, maybe not...



It may also be a comet, asteroid, high altitude jet, helicopter, laser pointer, cosmic ray, satellite, or even meteor (e.g. passing through the atmosphere, rather than heading towards the ground and burning up brightly).



Yep - photos of fireball meteors usually show them fading in and out. However, satellites (such as the ones in the Iridium network) can flare up brightly when they tumble and happen to catch the sun. With the naked eye, they often look very similar to meteors.

In photos, meteors often leave a distinctive green trail, with or without a persistent train (debris left over from the meteor). Satellite flares usually look white in my photos - I assume because they're reflecting white sunlight.

Websites like CalSky and Heavens Above are good for finding out which satellites would have likely been in the area, if you have GPS coordinates and a reliable time. There are databases of asteroids (e.g. Minor Planet Centre) that you can check too. However, there are many satellites and other objects that don't have official entries in the databases (especially spy satellites :lol:) so it can be a bit hit and miss.

[Liz]

A better morning today with beautiful clear skies, and I managed to spot about 14 meteors in a 70 minute period. 5 of these were Perseids, with 3 quite bright smoking ones, though not as bright as yesterdays beauty.
Alas, had my alarm set wrong, so didnt get outside until 4.45, but still was a very fruitful and enjoyable morning. Might try again tomorrow. :D
Imaged a couple but not as many as I hoped.

[gaa_ian]

It is great that so many folks here are seeing the Perseids.
Sounds like you had a good morning Liz, I managed to see 1 good fireball when I finally dragged myself out of bed back here in cairns at 5:30am today !
I have just come back from 4 days at the Garma festival in Arnhem Land NT where I did Aboriginal Astronomy tours for over 200 people and a few hardy souls even ventured out with me at 4:30am to catch some Perseids.
Saturday morning was my best where I saw 1 fireball and 2 of what I call tree skimming sparklers along with about 10 other perseids. Tree skimming Sparklers=2 bright Perseids in succession going in opposite directions above the tree line :eyepop:

We also had 1 sporadic bolide the evening before to the north, which was seen by many.
PS: thanks for the fireball vs Bolide explanation Liz, I have been using them interchangeably :rolleyes:

[algwat]

I had my all sky camera looking this morning. after being rained on the clouds cleared about 0400. Only caught this one meteor by the tail. Not a Perseid, as the radiant is below north horizon from Melbourne and this one is in southern quarter heading south.

regards, Alan
http://cometal-comets.blogspot.com.au/

[StephenM]

Hi all,

I was out looking for Perseids from about 4am until 5:20am, and saw four of them from light-polluted Brisbane skies. I had the camera running next to me, and was able to capture the 2 brightest ones,at about 4:18 and 5:12 am (the second of these was very spectacular, but it moved out of the frame before reaching maximum brightness :().

Cheers,
Stephen

[Paullus]

Hi everyone,

I was watching from 4am to 5am this morning from Toowoomba. Saw a really big one around 4:15 (might have been the same as was StephenM saw), one smaller one a few mins later, and then that was it. I unfortunately missed the first one with the camera due to operator error, but after stacking all my other frames I picked up few tiny ones. Nothing worth posting though.

That first one I saw was quite spectacular - makes me want to go out again tomorrow morning just for a great photo!

Cheers

[Octane]

Hey Suzy,

I didn't go out last night.

I did post one to my FB timeline the other night, but, I think it was a Southern Delta Aquariid as it was heading east. Check it out when you get the time.

Fingers-crossed for the Orionids!

H

[Sarah84]

Headed out for a look at 5am this morning - saw one absolute ripper at about 5:10am, but nothing after that. Was still worth getting up for!

[StephenM]

Hi Sarah,

That one you saw was the second one I captured - and it was an absolute ripper wasn't it! You could see bits coming off it as it burned up. I'm glad someone else in SE Qld saw it :)

Cheers,
Stephen

[Liz]

This is what is great about this shower, not a lot of meteors, but the meteors there are 'rippers' as Sarah says. :thumbsup:

2 nights ago I saw am absolutely beauty, and last night 2 more, though not as bright they were still smokin!!

The others who have looked up here have all seen one amazing one, what fun!!

I am going to have one more go in the morning. :D

ian - sparklers ... I like that :thumbsup:

Good luck to all heading out for the last hoorah. :cool:

[Suzy]

Wow Stephen I'm so glad someone got that shot! The really bright long one that is.
I saw it too!
Just wondering, do you have your times mixed around with the photos? As I saw the brighter one too, here from Brisbane with the same angle and really long length at the same time you have at 4.18am, but you've got this one at 5.20am (I wrote the time down for 4.15 as by the time I measured and wrote in book it was 4.20, so time close enough to yours). The other shot doesn't match what I saw at that time. Or maybe there just happened to be two at the same time and I missed one.:question:
Oh... just noticed Paul from Toowoomba saw it too. :D


I only caught one between 4 and 5.30am. Which sounds like the one Stephen and Paul saw. A really long and bright fireball which stretched all the way into Pisces :eyepop:. And it looked like it was stuck in the sky shining brilliantly forever!:eyepop: I measured the distance to Pisces in degrees using my hands- 50 degrees at least, I ran out of hands :P, and then I checked with the sky programme and it was a minimum of that. :eyepop:. The biggest, baddest meteor I've ever seen! :D
I told myself if I only see one or two good fireballs I would be extremely happy. I'm still grinning. :D Just seeing that one was worth it, I didn't care if I didn't see anymore. :P And I didn't. :rolleyes::lol:
Sarah, I know exactly where you're coming from!

H, I'm sorry to hear you didn't get any but at least you had a go hey.
I will go take a look at that pic. :)

[JB80]

I saw 7 but had to go to bed early, I have half a dozen or so on camera but nothing too spectacular.
Also caught what might be a looping smoke trail but no meteor so I can't really tell if it is or not, I know I visually saw a couple of trails.
Also bagged a satellite doublet flaring which is a first.

[Sarah84]

Yay! I'm glad others in SE Qld saw the big one too! The time was definitely 5:10 - 5:15am. It went straight from north to south, seemed to go the whole length of the sky. I'll probably pop out tomorrow morning for another look.
Sitting here watching the episode of Big Bang Theory where they are out observing the Leonids - sooooo funny!!

[JB80]

Well, just when you're not trying and all that I get this one last night.

Actually got another one in the very first image of the run but this is the better one.

[Liz]

Ooh, very nice, right past the Andromeda Galaxy!! :thumbsup:

[ZeroID]

That is just too cool !! Thanks for that, made my lack of anything to see here all just a bad memory.

[JB80]

Cheers, here is the other one which looks like it's going straight for Andromeda but not as bright.
It's straight out of the camera and was a 2 minute exposure hence ze orange.
DSS wont let me stack the two for some reason.:shrug:

[redomatic]

Stephen and Paul, could this be the same one?
I'm in Maryborough (3 hrs north) so it's much lower in the south for me.
Is it possible?
(my metadata said 5:07am, but I'm not sure how accurate my camera clock is set!!)