Howards Astronomical Adventures
Tales From The Night Sky
New image: Double Cluster in Perseus
Taken from my backyard in November 2008 I just now got around to processing the raw images.Wow the Canon 40D has low noise, yeah I was only doing two minute sub-exposures at 2-3? ambient. Which I consider near ideal imaging temperature for my cameras and me. Surprisingly little light pollution gradient in the photograph so I didn’t even bother to try and remove it. But also, as usual, I imaged the target in the optimum location of the sky for my spot.
TheQuadrantid meteor shower had pretty good timing for us here in Kansas this year and just like last year it was cloudy. Reportedly the shower was pretty good. From the IMO website it appears we here in CDT would have seen the peak just before dawn so it would not have been a dark sky.
I did see my first official Quad meteor around 23:40 CDT from my backyard. I was noting that it was clear outside when a meteor shot directly overhead. I had to double check the radiant location and sure enough, my first confirmed Quadrantid meteor sighting.
This is a promising meteor observing year!
The 2009 Leonids are predicted to have a potentially high rate, with a nearly new moon. The only bummer is a forecast shower peak during daytime for my longitude. Never the less it will be worth traveling for. Likewise the December Geminids occur during a new moon, arguably the finest of all the annual meteor showers. While the Perseids are somewhat compromised by moon light this year the Orionid and several other minor showers occur at or near new moon. See the IMO 2009 meteor calendar for more information.
I upgraded my website files to WordPress 2.7 and likely did not follow the instructions closely (‘We don’t need no stinkin directions!’) so my moon applet over there on the right is broken. I’ll fix it someday.
The new look and feel in the posting and administration section is really nice. Good job WordPress!