Astrophotos: Views of the Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower

Did those of you in the northern hemisphere have a chance to look for the Delta Aquarid meteors? Ever-faithful astronomer and astrophotographer John Chumack captured this view overnight from his observatory near Dayton, Ohio. Can you see the two meteors in this frame?

Below is another shot from John taken on July 29 using his Meteor Video Camera Network, and he captured about half a dozen bright ones, including one meteor through the clouds.

As our own David Dickenson said in his recent “how to” post on observing the Delta Aquarids, this meteor shower “can serve as a great “dry run” for the Perseids in a few weeks. You don’t need any specialized gear, simply find a dark site, block the Moon behind a building or hill, and watch.”

And as far as photographing them, David says that technique is “similar to doing long exposures of star trails.”

Simply aim your tripod mounted DSLR camera at a section of sky and take a series of time exposures about 1-3 minutes long to reveal meteor streaks. Images of Delta Aquarids seem elusive, almost to the point of being mythical. An internet search turns up more blurry pictures of guys in ape suits purporting to be Bigfoot than Delta Aquarid images… perhaps we can document the “legendary Delta Aquarids” this year?