This year, for the annual Perseid meteor shower, Jean and I were at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Astronomically, the conditions were good (no moon interference), but weather was a bit of a problem.
Earlier in the day, we were in Yellowstone National Park to the north, where skies were cloudy.
Heading south took longer than expected, and I did not begin shooting until after midnight.
And despite what seemed to be a good location off the main road in the park, the lights of cars
passing by (a surprising number at 2AM)
were an annoyance along with lightning flashes from the direction of Yellowstone Park to the north.
Clouds and later showers ended the photo session early too, but despite the problems, we
saw a nice show.
Click on the composite shot below to see a detailed view of a dozen meteors taken in the eastern direction (opposite the Teton mountain range). The photo is centered on the Double Cluster in Perseus, not far from the radiant point of the meteor shower. The orange streaks in the lower-left corner are clouds illuminated by lightning flashes. At lower right, the Pleiades cluster was cut through by one of the brighter Perseid meteors of the night.
Meteor photo settings:
- Camera: Nikon D600
- Exposure: 30 sec. @ ISO 3200
- Lens: Sigma 15mm fisheye @ f/2.8
Tetons by the morning light.