Alpha Centaurids @ 40,000 ft

[colinmlegg]

Hi,

Valentines day (night), red eye flight back to Perth:

I had another go at night shots out the plane window... this time under no moon conditions (previous attempts were moonlit). After a bumpy first 3 hours things calmed down once we crossed the WA coastline. I fired off a 20 minute burst of 1 second exposures, shielding the camera from cabin lights under a black hood.

As luck would have it, the 'alpha centaurid' meteor shower was active and I managed to capture 4 in the 20 minute window...composited here in their correct positions.

Western Australia, ~40,000 ft, 10:50 -> 11:10 pm WST, Feb 14 2015

4 x 1 sec composite @ iso 25600, f/1.4, 35 mm


Thanks for looking :)

[Rod771]

Very, very cool Colin! Nice catch indeed.

[CapturingTheNight]

:jawdrop: Certainly one of the best (OK- it is the best) astro images taken from a plane that I have seen. Brilliant work Colin.

[colinmlegg]

Thanks Rod



Thanks Greg. Lucky to have the 3 seats to myself and no one noticing the strange guy down the back under a black hood ;) .. first leg I had a baby next to me which put paid to quiet nightscaping...

[ralph1]

It's brilliant! Especially for 4 seconds total exposure. If you can put together the whole 20 minutes and overlay the meteors on top of this.

[iceman]

Beautiful result Colin, it's now IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

[jenchris]

Amazing.... never thought you could do that AT ALL

[pluto]

Awesome!
What camera did you use?

[RB]

Excellent !
Was Peter Ward guiding?

:lol:

[Ric]

Excellent shot Colin

Well done.

[colinmlegg]

Thanks guys and Mike for the IOTW :)

Camera: Sony A7s, Lens: Sigma 35 mm f/1.4 ART

[ralph1]

The stars aren't entirely round; I think your polar alignment might have been a bit off:P

[douggyi]

Wonderful creativity, Colin and deserving for its place as image of the week. How did you steady the camera?

[RobF]

Is that a shutter camera? Those sitting next to you must have wondered what the heck you were up to? :lol:

Fantastic outcome. I had to think for a while what you've achieved there :thumbsup:

[eskimo]

Excellent result, considering the location, speed etc etc

[JimsShed]

I am very impressed. Figured it was a Sony A7(something) when I read the crazy high ISO.
Hmmm....how to convince the board of management that we need one of these ;)

[pluto]

Not sure if Colin used it, as apparently it can add a bit of extra noise, but one of the A7s's party tricks is a completely silent electronic shutter mode.

[colinmlegg]

lol...I would have used electronic shutter if the others seats were taken..luckily I had all 3 to myself. I used the 1st curtain shutter, which as you say is a bit cleaner noisewise than electronic and still reasonably quiet. No one noticed or asked what I was up to :thumbsup:

The camera was mounted on a small tripod which I held tight and lent against the window. There's still some bumpiness from minor turbulance but during calm stretches 1 second works pretty well.

Thanks again :)

[Peter Ward]

In a word. No.

Don't fly light twins....

[Derek Klepp]

What a great shot.