Very Enjoyable but …

The conditions were perfect to spend the night under the stars sleeping in the hammock. The big skies of The Ranch stop me in my tracks most nights so the hammock has a prime spot to lay flat and stare up. This past weekend was the height of the Perseid meteor shower so along with Sharon & Maggie, the camera was out doin a little work. I thought I could capture some sweet shots. I set the Z 8 / Z14-24f2.8 up on Interval Timer to take a shot every 30 secs (ISO1600 20sec f2.8) so I could just lie there and enjoy the show. And it was a great show but not what we expected.

The glow of the setting sun was still a little apparent when we went out and as soon as we looked up, a brilliant falling star lit up the sky breaking apart in spectacular form. Camera wasn’t going yet darn but we figured we were in for a heck of a show with that first one. With the camera going and tucked in under the sleeping bag blanket, Maggie deciding all was clear of critters, we settled in. The show from that high operner just got slower and slower, dimmer and dimmer. The satellites were cranking through the sky, you can see a half dozen of their trails in the photo above. And one of the meteors I did capture (the green streak) is in the same frame as the United flight on final into MSO went through the frame. But otherwise, other than nice Milky Way photos around 3AM, no grand meteors. The heavens were gorgeous and that’s really why we spend the night under them, it was very enjoyable but …