So onto business and the Geminids Meteor shower is set to grace our skies this evening. The radiant point for us rises in the North around 10:30pm around the bright star Castor (directly below Rigel and Betelgeuse.) The radiant point will rise higher during the course of the evening too. Best viewing is 10:30pm onwards but there should still be heightened activity that we can see after dark. As with all astronomical events we need as little cloud as possible and currently we do have pre-frontal decks hanging around which are the precursor to our next 2 days of storms. Hopefully they break up during the evening. If conditions are good for viewing head somewhere dark! The results will be more than worth it. Lay back looking towards the North and there may be some rewarding views of the cosmos in action. I tend to view these kinds of events from the old Bombo Quarry/Bombo Headland so if the cloud deck breaks up enough I shall be lurking somewhere around there with my camera gear. (I like to have as much distance from the lights in the North of Sydney as I can manage). To take shots of this event your settings will be 15 - 30 second frames, f3.5 even lower and a high ISO up around 1600 - 6400 if your camera can take it. Focus manual and infinite. Tripod mounting is essential! Now its up to Mother Nature if she would be so kind to allow for good viewing. Allow your eyes to become adjusted to the dark too! As little lighting as possible is the best way. - Stephen
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 09:28:48 +0000