Mid November 2024 and the Leonid meteor shower was scheduled to put on a show in the night skies over the northern hemisphere.
So with a rare clear sky forecast overnight I took the lazy approach to astrophotography and set my camera up in our back bedroom, looking out over our housing estate through an open window.
I started filming the 3000+ still images I captured that night while the moon was still high in the sky, and although this wasn't ideal for seeing meteors, it still gave a lovely time lapse effect during the first part of my shoot.
But once the moon had set to the northwest, the sky darkened and the stars becanme visible.
However, I was fast asleep in bed at this point, only waking up once the sky had started to lighten to the southest, by which time my camera was recording a completely blown out image.
But that's what I was expecting anyway, and I was looking forward to processing the images and seeing how many meteors I'd managed to capture during the darkest part of the night.
But guess what? Not a single meteor to be seen on any of the 3000+ frames on my camera's memory card!
But never mind, as the time lapse video of the moon and stars over Buckley was quite lovely in its own right, and we even got to see my favourite constellation, Orion the Hunter, tracking across the sky over the streets and houses.
Filename - buckley night timelapse 02
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @ 17mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 10 secs @ f/4, ISO1600
Exposure (end of sequence) - 10 secs @ f/4, ISO1600
Filters - None.
Other equipment - Mains adapter to allow continuous filming overnight. Lens warmer to prevent condensation forming on the front lens element.
Music - Kiss the Sky - Aakash Gandhi
Shooting interval - 10 seconds
Location - Buckley, North, Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 101 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.