Friday, August 13, 2021

Sky Gazing and Perseid Hunting


 









Last night we got out for a little sky gazing hoping to see some Perseid meteors. We ventured out into the middle of one of the local lakes, dropped the anchor and started watching the sky. It only took a moment to see our first meteor. When we first got positioned on the lake the sky was free of clouds and the surface of the water was smooth as glass. A sky flooded with stars above us and the smooth surface of the lake reflecting those same stars below us made it feel like we were hovering in the middle of the Milky Way. 

After just a few minutes, however, some clouds started to move in and a light breeze kicked up. The breeze made the front of the boat drift back and forth. As we drifted my 20 second exposures turned the stars into streaks making it look like a star trail exposure which are typically 30 minutes or longer. It was cool to see the star trail effect in such a short exposure.  We spent about an hour out on the lake but the clouds were moving in more so we decided to call it a night. We saw at least 20 or more meteors in that hour. The whole experience was very surreal and one we will not soon forget. 

No comments: