Perseid meteor shower at DSO
The image at right shows a Perseid meteor caught by a camera at the Dark Sky Observatory on the night of August 11-12, at about 2:45 am.
The "fisheye" view shows the 18-inch telescope's dome silhouetted at top left and the feed horn support for the radio telescope at bottom right. Northeast is at the bottom. (See the marked up image at bottom for identifications).
The Milky Way runs from top to bottom with its dark dust lane cutting through the middle. The brightest stars of the constellation Perseus are at the bottom and the sideways "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia is above that. The meteor appears to come from a point between--the radiant of the Perseid shower.
Cygnus, the swan (or northern cross) is at top. It's brightest star, Deneb, combines with Lyra's brightest star, Vega (top left), and Aquila's brightest star, Altair, to comprise the "Summer Triangle."
|