Geminid Meteor Shower Composites

[wearle]

To all,

Here are four Geminid Meteor Shower composites I created from two nights of imaging. They were taken on the nights of December 13th and 14th. I took approximately 5500 images using four cameras. I used two 5D2, one 5D3, and one 1DX. I rented the 5D3 and a Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8 lens.

The first composite was created from 18 images. Each image was a 60 second exposure at ISO 3200 unguided on a German equatorial mount. The camera was an unmodified Canon 5D2 with a Canon 14mm f/2.8L lens stopped down to f/4.0. Each individual image was processed in Lightroom. The composite was done in Photoshop CC.

The second composite was created from 24 images. Each image was 20 or 25 seconds at ISO 5000 on a fixed tripod. The camera was an unmodified Canon 5D3 with a Canon TS-E 17mm f/4.0L lens stopped down to f/4.5. Each individual image was processed in Lightroom. The composite was done in Photoshop CC.

The third composite was created from 18 images. Each image was 20 or 25 seconds at ISO 5000 on a fixed tripod. The camera was an unmodified Canon 5D3 with a Canon TS-E 17mm f/4.0L lens stopped down to f/4.5. Each individual image was processed in Lightroom. The composite was done in Photoshop CC. There was a very faint aurora that began just after moonrise. I could not see it visually, but the camera easily picked it up. Since the underlying image was taken after moonrise and later in the night, I had to remove some of the meteors from the second composite since they were outside the field of view; however, I was also able to add a few new ones.

The final composite was created from 30 images. Each image was 30 seconds at ISO 6400 on a fixed tripod. The camera was a Canon 1DX using a Canon 8-15mm f/4.0L lens at approximately 8.5mm with an aperture set to wide-open. Each individual image was processed in Lightroom. The composite was done in Photoshop CC. The crescent Moon had just risen, illuminating the underside of the cloud feature in the east. The shadowed feature at the bottom is a bird house.

Thanks for looking,

Wade

 

[epsiloneri]

That is excellent work, Wade! Thanks for sharing them, and particular the details about their creation. It is really helpful for others (like me) interested in meteor photography. A few questions/comments:

1) From your number of 5000 images x 25s / 4 cameras / 2 nights I assume you let the cameras stay exposing for about 9-10h per night. Since you did not use tracking mounts on the last 3, how did you avoid motion blur on the stars due to Earth's rotation? Also, it looks like the meteor streaks converge from a single point, despite the meteors being distributed over the night. Did you "move" the meteors to the appropriate positions in post? Did you have to take into account the variable distortion over the field of view? No matter how you did it, it looks good anyway.

2) I see no non-gemenid meteors, did you exclude them? You also removed satellites, airplanes, I assume?

3) Why did you stop down the TS-E 17/4Ls? Interesting that you have TWO of them! Or perhaps you actually used the Zeiss 15/2.8 on the second 5D3 (why else would you rent the Zeiss)?

4) Have you captured the same meteor in different cameras? I'm sure you have, I just couldn't see it easily by looking quickly.

5) It is interesting to me that the Gemenids show so much less colour than do the Perseids. Perhaps it has to do with the composition of the grains, or it is related to the relative velocity between Earth and the meteoroid orbits. I have not researched, just speculation...

6) I think your captures of the meteors are already perfected, so a next step for you would probably be to find some interesting foreground object to improve the composition and impact of the images, as in this example by extremeinstability on this forum. Another challenge would be to attempt capturing meteors at longer focal lengths.

 

[Click]

Excellent series. I especially like the 3rd picture. 8) Well done.

 

[wearle]

That is excellent work, Wade! Thanks for sharing them, and particular the details about their creation. It is really helpful for others (like me) interested in meteor photography.

Thanks!

1) From your number of 5000 images x 25s / 4 cameras / 2 nights I assume you let the cameras stay exposing for about 9-10h per night. Since you did not use tracking mounts on the last 3, how did you avoid motion blur on the stars due to Earth's rotation? Also, it looks like the meteor streaks converge from a single point, despite the meteors being distributed over the night. Did you "move" the meteors to the appropriate positions in post? Did you have to take into account the variable distortion over the field of view? No matter how you did it, it looks good anyway.

Actually, the exposure times varied from 20 seconds to 60 seconds depending on if I was using a fixed tripod or an equatorial mount. Each night I imaged about an hour after moon rise. The first night I took my last exposure about 0130. The second night the last image was about 0220. The first night I guessed 25 second exposures for the 17mm, but this was too long so I reduced it to 20 seconds. For pinpoint stars, I would likely need to limit it to about 15 seconds. With the fish-eye lens, I can go about 30 seconds without visible star trailing. Once I copied the meteor from its original frame, I rotated it to the proper radiant position of the underlying background image. I try to keep the meteors position relative to the stars as closely as possible. I did not take the variable distortion into account.

2) I see no non-gemenid meteors, did you exclude them? You also removed satellites, airplanes, I assume?

I did not include them in the picture. I did capture a few Monocerotids and Sigma Hydrids.

3) Why did you stop down the TS-E 17/4Ls? Interesting that you have TWO of them! Or perhaps you actually used the Zeiss 15/2.8 on the second 5D3 (why else would you rent the Zeiss)?

I stopped down the 17mm to improve the stars in the corners. The lens was shifted up about 6-8 degrees. I only have one 17mm TS-E. I just positioned it near the same location each night. The Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8 was used on another 5D2 camera. I did not have it positioned well so I didn't capture enough meteors to produce a composite.

4) Have you captured the same meteor in different cameras? I'm sure you have, I just couldn't see it easily by looking quickly.

Yes, there are quite a few "repeat" meteors. The second and third composites are mostly repeats. The only difference is the time at which the background image was taken. The radiant was much higher in the third composite.

5) It is interesting to me that the Gemenids show so much less colour than do the Perseids. Perhaps it has to do with the composition of the grains, or it is related to the relative velocity between Earth and the meteoroid orbits. I have not researched, just speculation...

Visually, I saw some nice colors on a few of the brighter Geminids. It probably has more to do with their velocity. The Perseids are coming in much faster so they "burn up" quicker.

6) I think your captures of the meteors are already perfected, so a next step for you would probably be to find some interesting foreground object to improve the composition and impact of the images

A better foreground would be ideal, but it's difficult finding a good foreground without introducing too much light pollution. Unfortunately, I live in an area that doesn't offer too many foreground subjects.

Wade

 

[wearle]

Excellent series. I especially like the 3rd picture. 8) Well done.

Thanks! My favorite is the third composition too. I wish the aurora would have started before moon rise, but at least I got one.

Wade

 

[epsiloneri]

Many thanks for your detailed answers!

4) Have you captured the same meteor in different cameras? I'm sure you have, I just couldn't see it easily by looking quickly.

Yes, there are quite a few "repeat" meteors. The second and third composites are mostly repeats. The only difference is the time at which the background image was taken. The radiant was much higher in the third composite.

Another idea just occurred to me. I think it would be insanely cool to have a stereoscopic image of the meteors from a shower including the radiant. The cameras would have to be close to identical in setup and positioned about 10 km or more apart for good stereo effect. One day I am going to attempt it, perhaps enlisting a collaborator.