Leonid Meteor Shower Report from Cary, NC
I woke up this morning at 4am to check out the Leonids. There were reports it could be a larger than average shower, but alas it was not the case. I stayed out for about an hour, and saw about 1/2 dozen odd meteors. 2 rather big fireball types, the rest just typical meteor sightings. By 5am wispy clouds were covering most of the Eastern sky, so seeing was not the best. Even minor clouds can obscure faint meteors, so I have no doubt I missed a few due to the conditions. I also am located in a typical suburban setting with average light pollution.
I had hoped to catch a few on film if there were a lot of meteors, but because of the low frequency I wasn't able to. I did however snap one shot of the western sky just to see how my Canon SD1100 IS point-and-shoot camera would fare at night. This image was taken via tripod w/ ISO 1600 speed setting and a 15 sec exposure. I barely expected the little guy to capture anything, and low and behold the shot is actually a bit overexposed! I have a bit of experience w/ a film SLR taking astrophotos, but now that I have actual results with a simple digital point-and-shoot, I may have to go back out again.
Orion is pictured on the left, the fuzziness in Orion's "sword" below the belt is M42, the Orion Nebula. Located right-center in a "V" pattern is Taurus, w/ the orange-colored star on the upper left of the "V" being a well-known star called Aldebaran (the "eye of the bull" if you will). The faint grouping on the far right is the Pleiades or "Seven Sisters".
Happy star hunting!
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