Incredible Shooting Star and the Milky Way over Cape Leveque

[iceman (Mike)]

It was day 2 on our Kimberley Tour, and earlier in the day we had arrived at the beautiful Cape Leveque after a fairly rough couple of hours drive on the corrugated red pindan dirt from Broome.

After a sunset shoot down on Western beach with the red rock cliffs lit up beautifully by the setting sun, myself and Sue stayed back after everyone had left so we could shoot the first stars appearing before we headed up for dinner. Sue hadn’t photographed any night sky scenes before, so after a quick tutorial on the best camera settings for her 7D, she was on her way.

We were working our way back to the beach entrance, trying different compositions with the sky against the red rock cliffs, and as the sky got darker, the Milky Way appeared and provided a great composition target.

I’d started a 30 second exposure and was standing up looking around when an extremely bright “fireball” (bright shooting star) blazed across the sky from South West to South East. I shouted out to Sue “look look look” and we both saw the amazing sight as it lasted for about 5-6 seconds, with ‘sparks’ trailing off it sped across the sky before fading out.

I raced back to my camera, and with the exposure now finished I quickly looked at the preview screen and saw that I’d captured the fireball in my exposure (so had Sue!!). It looks like an airplane trail, but it’s the light from the shooting star as it was captured by the long exposure.

It was such an adrenalin rush and such a beautiful thing to witness first hand. When we finally made it back to dinner at the restaurant, we couldn’t wait to tell the rest of our group and show them the photo on the back of my camera.

It was the brightest fireball I’ve ever seen and one of my fondest memories from my 2 week Kimberley adventure.

Technical details: Canon 5D Mk II, Samyang 14mm lens @ f/2.8, ISO3200, 30s exposure.

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Thanks for looking!

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Great shot Mike

[Dennis]

Nice story and nice photo Mike – I’d be claiming that as the trail of the ISS to gain more street cred!

Cheers

Dennis

[gregbradley]

That's a remarkable shot Mike.

I love the red sandstone rocks forming a contrast to the sky. Catching a fireball adds to the interest. A very unusual and striking image.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Nice constrasting colours Mike. Certainly striking.

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Awesome capture Mike Love that foreground and the shooting star is the icing on the cake.

[Deeno]

Very cool...!

[h0ughy (David)]

well i know what gets entered next year in the widefield section

[rally]

Tell em the truth Mike ,

That's a shot from either Spirit or Opportunity !

Rally

[colinmlegg (Colin)]

Must have been amazing to see in person! Great capture.

>> Sue hadn’t photographed any night sky scenes before, so after a quick tutorial on the best camera settings for her 7D, she was on her way.

Funny...a similar thing happened to me when I was there. I helped a woman with a 60D take a night shot after showing her my shots from the night before. She was so happy and couldn't believe her camera could take such a shot...had only had it for a week.

[h0ughy (David)]

Mike, did you use the polarie?

[bartman (Bart)]

Awesome Mike !
I've been there.....( Cape Leveque) but that was close to..... **** .....20 years ago....frak thanks for reminding me.....
Whats the little streak to the right of Antares just above the butterfly neb?
Great shot !!!1
Bartman

[Ric]

Lovely image Mike.

Congrats on nailing that meteorite.

[lacad01 (Adam)]

Another beautiful image Mike, quite a contrast between the night sky and outback landscape

[iceman (Mike)]

Originally Posted by supernova1965

Great shot Mike

Thanks Warren!

Originally Posted by Dennis

Nice story and nice photo Mike – I’d be claiming that as the trail of the ISS to gain more street cred!

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks Dennis. I think a trail of a fireball is better than the trail of an ISS. The ISS comes around 16 times a day

Originally Posted by gregbradley

That's a remarkable shot Mike.

I love the red sandstone rocks forming a contrast to the sky. Catching a fireball adds to the interest. A very unusual and striking image.

Greg.

Thanks Greg. It's such a beautiful spot. I could've spent a few more days there. There's some lovely red sand dunes around the East side, and we spent a bit of time there for a sunset shoot the next day.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Nice constrasting colours Mike. Certainly striking.

Many thanks Paul! The red rocks were illuminated by the setting Moon in the West which certainly helped.

Originally Posted by obsidianphotos

Awesome capture Mike Love that foreground and the shooting star is the icing on the cake.

Thanks for the feedback, Greg. It was certainly a memorable event!

Originally Posted by Deeno

Very cool...!

Thanks Dean!

Originally Posted by h0ughy

well i know what gets entered next year in the widefield section

haha it's just nice to have a few that I can consider entering - it's been pretty slim pickings the last few years.

Originally Posted by rally

Tell em the truth Mike ,

That's a shot from either Spirit or Opportunity !

Rally

The whole area around there really did look like a martian landscape. At the top of the cliffs it was like a barren wasteland!

Originally Posted by colinmlegg

Must have been amazing to see in person! Great capture.

>> Sue hadn’t photographed any night sky scenes before, so after a quick tutorial on the best camera settings for her 7D, she was on her way.

Funny...a similar thing happened to me when I was there. I helped a woman with a 60D take a night shot after showing her my shots from the night before. She was so happy and couldn't believe her camera could take such a shot...had only had it for a week.

Thanks Colin! Sue had only had her 7D for a month or two as well. She was so pleased with what she was able to capture - like you said, most people have no idea what's possible and they're so afraid to use a high ISO.

I went from 1 person on night 2, to 8 people by night 4 out at the Bungle Bungles. It was awesome

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Mike, did you use the polarie?

Yeh on the next night down on Cape Leveque beach again I got some shots with the Polarie. They're coming close to being 'next in line' to be processed. I took a few 2 and 3 minute shots.

Originally Posted by bartman

Awesome Mike !
I've been there.....( Cape Leveque) but that was close to..... **** .....20 years ago....frak thanks for reminding me.....
Whats the little streak to the right of Antares just above the butterfly neb?
Great shot !!!1
Bartman

Thanks Bart! I think it's either another small shooting star, or a small streak from a satellite or iridium flare.

Originally Posted by Ric

Lovely image Mike.

Congrats on nailing that meteorite.

Thanks Ric - you couldn't imagine my joy when I checked the back of the camera and saw I'd captured it )

Originally Posted by lacad01

Another beautiful image Mike, quite a contrast between the night sky and outback landscape

Thanks Adam! I really enjoyed the remoteness and the beautiful and interesting landscapes of the outback. Certainly different to the seascapes (and clouds) we get around here.

Thanks again!

[Setae]

Far out! what an incredible shot Mike.

Talk about perfect timing. Great story too, thank you for sharing.

[gary]

How lucky was that! Great capture.

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks Setae and Gary. Appreciate your comments.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

What a beauty ... that is just superb ... !!
I'd love to see that in person ..!!

Flash .. !!