Astrophotos: Views of the Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower

By Nancy Atkinson - July 30, 2013 04:30 PM UTC | Observing

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.

[caption id="attachment_103849" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

A Delta Aquarid meteor shows up through the clouds on July 29, 2013. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

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?

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com