The Leonids this year will be exceptional. You will likely never see as
many meteors in your lifetime. Perhaps 4200/hr and no moon to
interfere.
Downside: best NA time is 4-6am EST. No Leonids before 11pm.
More details & advice, see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaog/message/4575
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaog/message/4569
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonids.html
http://www.skypub.com/sights/meteors/3showers.html
(From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oaog/message/4306 )
"Leonids usually last only a fraction of a second, and they are indeed
fast smashing into our atmosphere at 71km per sec! The easiest way
to
photograph meteors is to mount a 35mm SLR camera (capable of
doing time
exposures with cable release) on a tripod. Use a 35mm or 50mm
lens,
ensure it is wide open (f/1.4 or f/2) and be sure to set the focus to
infinity. Use a fast film (ISO 400 to 1600). Whether you use black and
white, colour film or slides is more a matter of personal choice. Black
and white is often useful for analysis, but colour is more esthetic.
The camera should be aimed about halfway up, and about 40 degrees
from the radiant. [The radiant is where the meteors appear to be
coming from. Since this is in the East, in the constellation Leo, aim
your
camera SE or NE.] This area in the sky will produce meteors with
longer
paths.
If you have a dark sky, try exposures ranging from 10 to 25 minutes
depending on the shower's strength. If you're located at a suburban
sky with some light pollution, expose your camera for no more than 5
minutes. Do you have an extra camera body lying around in the
closet? If so, why not use it as well? More cameras aimed at the sky
will improve your odds of catching a streaker on film!
In my experience, fast moving meteors like the Leonids must have a
magnitude of at least "0" (as bright as some of the brightest stars you
see with the naked eye) to show up on photos as a faint streak. These
meteors move so quickly that even high speed films will have trouble
catching anything fainter.
If you think you saw a bright fireball flash through your camera's field
of view, stop the exposure immediately.
When you bring your photos to a processor, be sure to tell them that
you have night sky shots. It may also be wise to cut the negatives [or
slides] yourself. "
You might also take a few "normal" frames at the start of each roll to
help them line up the frames in their cutting machine.
Some notes:
To avoid dew, it's wise to use the biggest lens hood that fits, and keep
the camera warm between shots, and/or during shots with a heater,
covering
cloth, or foam shield . See
http://members.home.net/observers-
group/Articleshints/DealingDew/DealingDew.htm
Wear warm stuff. Bring a lounge chair (for your viewing angle) and
thick sleeping bag for warmth. Don't bring any white-lite flashlites -
they destroy nite vision. Use a red lite, like a bike rear lite which has
a no-flash setting.
More meteor links at
http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/index.html
http://members.home.net/observers-
group/Meteors/meteorsMain.htm
http://www.skypub.com/sights/meteors/meteorwatch.html
Don't forget your tripod. Do forget your flash.
Tom
------- Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur -------------------
,__@ Tom A. Trottier +1 613 860-6633 fax:231-6115
_-\_<, 758 Albert St., Ottawa Ontario Canada K1R 7V8
(*)/'(*) ICQ:57647974 Tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx N45.412
W75.714
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Laws are the spider's webs which, if anything small falls into them
they ensnare it, but large things break through and escape.
--Solon, statesman (c.638-c558 BCE)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
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