More on the Geminids

A condo complex in south Cocoa Beach is backdropped by the southwestern sky, which was the darkest area at my viewing location just after midnight Sunday. The meteors, however, radiated from the east, around the constellation Gemini (duh).

Beyond this post, there isn't much to add about the Geminids other than to say it was probably the greatest meteor shower I've witnessed. As a boy in Maine, I would lie under a dark sky during meteor showers and try to spot shooting stars with my family. Since my youth, though, I haven't paid great attention to the heavens until this year. Monday morning's peak period for the Geminids convinced me that I was missing a lot during that hiatus.

At one point, probably around 1:30 a.m., I conservatively estimated that the meteors were falling at a clip of about 200 per hour. Some fired up only seconds after the previous one. My eyes couldn't cover the entire sky, however, so I know I missed many. Several were so bright that their smoke trails were clearly visible. My long-distance vision isn't 100 percent, but I could see the trails without the aid of my eyeglasses.

If you missed it, I'm sorry, but no photo is going to do it justice.

This meteor was high in the sky, where it was darker.

Photographing meteors requires a wide aperture and high ISO setting to capture the brief streak of light from a shooting star. Of course, these settings do not allow the shutter to be open for very long, or else the image would be overexposed.

20 photos of Christmas, Day 9 | Stars in the east during the Geminids

A meteor during the Geminids shower early Monday morning passes a bright star in the east, one that I will call the Star of Bethlehem, just in keeping with the season's spirit.

Note: Because I was raised in New England, Christmas is different in Florida, but it's still Christmas nonetheless. And I need to convince myself of that. So, in the next 20 days, including the holiday itself, I intend to find Christmas here in Brevard County and portray it through a different photo each day.


The Geminids meteor shower peaked early this morning with a brilliant display over North America. For viewers in Central Florida, ambient light often creates problems, but the shooting stars were so bright that the cities' glow wasn't a hindrance. I'll write more about this occasion in a later post, but for now, this is why I'm using this photo for today's edition.

The Star of Bethlehem, as it is commonly known now, led the wise men to Jesus' manger after his birth. Astronomers and theologians have debated as to whether this "star in the east" was actually a living star, a supernova, a planet or some other celestial phenomenon. The Geminids radiate from the east, and I took many exposures of the eastern sky in an attempt to capture a meteor and a bright star in the same image to represent this aspect of the Bible's Christmas story.

The above image is one of several bright meteors I managed to capture during several 13-second exposures taken at a high ISO setting, hence the graininess. The brightest point of light in the photo is, indeed, a star in the east, though I couldn't say exactly which one. The actual meteor left a smoke trail that lasted less than a second but was visible to the naked eye nevertheless.

For hours Monday morning, I sat on the sand in Cocoa Beach, taking hundreds of photos of the night sky, which cleared magnificently after a freak period of clouds - the first of two rare weather events in the same day in Brevard County (more on that later). In the still night, I sat with my head tilted upward, my iPod pumping Christmas music into my ears. The meteors were separated only by seconds. When "O Holy Night" began to play, the evening was complete.


Earlier editions
Day 1: A lighted bush and the bokeh effect
Day 2: The city tree at warp speed
Day 3: Lights' reflection on a retention pond
Day 4: More than just seasonal colors
Day 5: Golden lights during the golden hour
Day 6: Four Christmas trees and one giant ornament
Day 7: Future Santa Claus
Day 8: Ornament on a Charlie Brown-style tree