2012 Perseid Meteors and Planetary Alignment

August 24, 2012

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Photographer: John Chumack
Summary Author: John Chumack

This year's annual Perseid Meteor Shower, as observed in the sky above southwestern Ohio, surpassed my expectations. Clear skies, a late-rising Moon, Jupiter and Venus glowing in the east, and several bright meteors made for a memorable night/early morning on August 11/12. The photo above shows three Perseid meteors as observed from outside my home in Dayton, Ohio. During the course of the night, my sky camera network tallied 230 Perseid meteors. Note that the dome at the bottom of the photo is my backyard observatory. Click on photo to see annotated night sky.

Photo details: Modified Canon Rebel Xsi; 17mm lens; ISO 400; 20 second exposure -- had to keep exposures fairly short to prevent too much lens flaring from the rather bright, waning crescent Moon.