Last night’s attempt at photographing the Alpha Monocerotids meteor shower was a dismal failure. Also known as the Unicorn Meteor Shower, the shower was predicted by experts to be a rare and spectacular event, lighting up the sky with hundreds of meteors in a very brief hour-long window. I saw six small meteors and only captured one.
When it comes to astrophotography, my go-to planning software of choice is PhotoPills. I have no affiliations with PhotoPills but am a beta tester for the software. I received a new beta version of the software for my iPad earlier in the week which added the ability to plan meteor showers.
I spent a couple of afternoons scouting an ideal location for the meteor shower. I selected the Levy Bay Boat Ramp in Panacea, Florida. Nestled between St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge and the Apalachicola National Forest, the boat ramp gave me an unobstructed view of the meteor shower while also providing some land and water to give the photos some additional interest.
With a location selected, I only had to plan for the event and get my gear together. PhotoPills takes care of most of the planning for me. It sure beats my Navy days when all the calculations for photography had to be done with pencil, paper, and a calculator.
PhotoPills’s Meteor Shower planner tells me where and when to point the camera. Its Spot Stars planner tells me the optimum exposure time based on the camera, lens, and f/stop used. The PhotoPills Hyperfocal Table tells me how to set the focus for sharp images. A good thing considering I find it nearly impossible to focus my Sony mirrorless cameras in extreme darkness.
With my camera set up on a tripod and pointing towards the anticipated hub of meteor activity, my intervalometer made continuous 24-second exposures for an hour.
Despite all the planning and hopes for an incredible image, it was literally up to the Universe to provide the subject matter. This year, the meteors did not show up. I will continue showing up for the big meteor events, camera in hand, hoping to capture something special.
All is not lost, however. While my camera was busy trying to photograph the meteor shower, I met and had a good conversation with Sam and Starr Dunlap who own the seafood restaurant, The Seineyard at Rock Landing, located in Panacea, Florida. Preferring smaller, local restaurants over the big chains, I’m eager to stop in for dinner and listen to some good music.