QuadrantidsAs we stood at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains the uncharacteristically 23˚ cold due to the recent snow storms that blanketed the southern Arizona high desert this past week froze us to the bone. But that same storm left the night skies the clearest and most brilliant I have ever seen. It was well worth the discomfort.

Our goal was straightforward. The first meteor shower of the year, the Quadrantids, would peak this evening and we wanted to be there to capture as many "shooting stars" as we could. The unique, and off wordly landscape of the Dragoon Mountains made for the best setting we could imagine. We started shooting at 1:00 am, and six and a half hours later we wrapped up, hoping that we had some keepers.

All told I ended up with over fifty meteors. I chose the twenty I liked best and created this composite.

The Quadrantids meteor shower radiates from the constellation Bootes, which sits just below Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). It has the shortest peak of any meteor showers, only one day. The best time to view it is between the hours of 2:00 am and 7:00 am. The meteors pictured in this image all radiate out from the showers radiant.

Spending the night with friends watching the grand power of Gods brushstroke paint the sky with flaming lines of brilliant color once again reminded me of how great this word He created is. I cannot imagine being more blessed than I am to bear witness, and share this glory. I am humbled to be scribe.
Shoot Date: January 4, 2019
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Manual 15.0 sec at f/2.5 0 EV
Lens: 15mm @ 15 mm
ISO: 3200

As we stood at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains the uncharacteristically 23˚ cold due to the recent snow storms that blanketed the southern Arizona high desert this past week froze us to the bone. But that same storm left the night skies the clearest and most brilliant I have ever seen. It was well worth the discomfort.

Our goal was straightforward. The first meteor shower of the year, the Quadrantids, would peak this evening and we wanted to be there to capture as many "shooting stars" as we could. The unique, and off-worldly landscape of the Dragoon Mountains made for the best setting we could imagine. We started shooting at 1:00 am, and six and a half hours later we wrapped up, hoping that we had some keepers.

All told I ended up with over fifty meteors. I chose the twenty I liked best and created this composite.

The Quadrantids meteor shower radiates from the constellation Bootes, which sits just below Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). It has the shortest peak of any meteor showers, only one day. The best time to view it is between the hours of 2:00 am and 7:00 am. The meteors pictured in this image all radiate out from the showers radiant.

Spending the night with friends watching the grand power of Gods brushstroke paint the sky with flaming lines of brilliant color once again reminded me of how great this word He created is. I cannot imagine being more blessed than I am to bear witness, and share this glory. I am humbled to be His scribe.

Quadrantids

©RGallucci Photography

Shoot Date: January 4, 2019

Night Sky

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Manual 15.0 sec at f/2.5 0 EV

Lens: 15mm @ 15 mm

ISO: 3200

Twenty images stacked in Starry Landscape Tracker

Meteors

Manual 15.0 sec at f/2.5 0 EV

Lens: 15mm @ 15 mm

ISO: 3200

Individual Captures rotated around radiant

Foreground

Manual 15.0 sec at f/2.5 0 EV

Lens: 15mm @ 15 mm

ISO: 3200

Captured early morning