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The Perseids have been extremely loud in recent days. The Earth has crossed the orbit of comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle, which is responsible for leaving tons of “cosmic debris” in space. Bits of matter falling into our atmosphere create the phenomenon of meteors, which we can observe as bright traces in the sky. More we wrote about it here.
We can see these bright streaks with the naked eye, but they are also a nice subject for photos. However, not everyone manages to “catch” Perseids with the camera. There are several reasons for this. But let’s start from the beginning.
How to photograph Perseids?
Photographing the Perseids is not particularly difficult, but it does require some preparation. First of all, you will need a camera (any) with manual mode and a tripod. We can also use a trigger cable or a remote shutter release.
It is best to equip the camera with a relatively wide lens so that it covers a fairly large section of the sky. The Perseids seem to “fly out” in the sky from the constellation of Perseus located above the northeast (first part of the night) or eastern (second part of the night) horizon, so we should point the camera in that direction.
As it happens in astrophotography, when photographing Perseids you also need to take advantage of long exposure times. Of course, shutter speed depends on conditions, including light pollution of the sky. We also correct the sensitivity of the matrix and the aperture value accordingly.
In order to “catch” meteor traces on the photos, exposure times of several or even several dozen seconds are necessary. This way we increase our chances of success. If a meteor appears in the sky during the shutter speed, the matrix will record its trail on the finished photo. Of course, you may not be able to do it the first time, so try again.
Perseidy photo: Jakub Dąbrowski / Agencja Gazeta
Perseids and stars in one frame
It is worth mentioning that you do not have to limit yourself only to looking for Perseids. Meteors can only complement the entire composition. Under dark skies, you can try to capture the Milky Way with the Perseids “flying out” from it in one photo, or photograph the landscape with the night sky in the background.
To increase your chances of “catching” as many Perseids as possible in the frame, it is worth taking a dozen or even several dozen photos with long exposure time. Unless we moved the camera in the meantime (a trigger hose with an interval timer or an appropriate option in the camera may be useful), these photos can then be easily combined in post-production. Bright meteor trails will then be superimposed on one photograph.
When combining many photos (even several hundred), so when the entire collected material is several dozen minutes or even several hours long, you may be tempted to catch the traces of stars. We simply combine photographs in programs such as “Startrails”, and in the final photograph we will see their apparent wandering through the sky adorned with passing meteors.
There are many ways and ideas to photograph the Perseids, but the most important thing is to use a tripod and a long exposure time. If meteors are visible to the naked eye, they will also be easily registered by the camera sensor. However, it is worth hurrying. Perseids will be visible for about a week.
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