5 tips for seeing and photographing the Draconids
5 tips for seeing and photographing Draconids
A blog on the universe and the cosmos above and the nature of it determined by great scientists.
Draconids are annual Meteor Showers which are generally observed in the initial days of the month of October. For getting a clear view of Draconids:-
- one must try to go to an elevated place and avoid pollution and try to remain in the northern hemisphere.
To take great photos of the Draconids:-
- One can try selecting a good place
- Avoid or cancel out light pollution as much as possible
- Study the Shower timings in advance
- May or may not invest in good quality astrophotography tools
- What are Draconids
- Places you can see them
- How to capture them in photos
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What are Dracnoids :
Dracnoids are annual meteor showers which are generally visible through the initial few days of the month of October. These meteor showers fall under the annual type and the reason behind this is their annual showering. These meteor showers are visible every year with a definite pattern of falling, that is , they fall in specific months only. This meteor shower is also caused by asteroids like any other and gets its name from a constellation but there is something pretty different and amazing about the Draconids Meteor showers.
The Draconids meteor showers get their name from the constellation in the night sky from where they seem to be originating from. This point of origin is called the radiant of a meteor shower and on basis of this radiant, the constellation from where the showers originate is determined. In this case, the Dracnoid Meteor showers arise from a constellation know as ' Draco ', this means that the radiant of these showers is present in the Draco constellation and this gives the meteor showers its name as Draconoids Meteor Showers. Now turning towards the interesting part of this meteor shower which you may not observe in others.
The Dracnoid Meteor Showers are one of the only major meteor showers that have their radiant point near northern circumpolar constellations. This means that Draconoid Meteor showers are one of the few meteor showers that have their radiant point in a constellation which is very close to the pole. Such constellations are called as circumpolar constellations. The Draco constellation which has the radiant to the Draconids showers is situated very close to the northern pole and hence is mentioned as to a norther circumpolar constellations.
This has some pretty unique effect on the Draconoid meteor showers arising from that constellation. As the constellation is very close to the northern pole, as we told you above, this constellation is very easily visible from the majority of the northern hemisphere if not the whole. One can easily see this constellation in a night sky of the northern hemisphere and thus making it very easy and fast to see these meteors as soon as it gets dark enough.
credit : canva.com
Places where you can see it :
As we told you before, the Draconids Meteor shower arises from the point in the sky which corresponds with the location of the constellation Draco. So to find these showers, the only thing you need to do is to find the constellation. For people who live in northern hemisphere, it is even easier to find the Draconid showers. Theses showers are visible as soon as it gets dark enough, so you can easily spot these showers in clear night skies as they fall in pretty large numbers. Observers have recorded to see about 600 meteors per hour in 2011, and the average meteors seen each year is near this number as well. So you can easily make the Draconids showers out as there are many meteors showering down.
But the problem starts for people living in the southern hemisphere. As mentioned before, the Draconid meteor shower is very easily visible from northern hemisphere, but from the southern hemisphere, the parent constellation that is ,Draco seems to be far which results into your odds of seeing the showers growing less in numbers. Of course, your position in the southern hemisphere also matters, that ; if you reside in the southern hemisphere but not to far from the equator, then it may not have any difference on your chances of seeing the shower. But as you move more towards the southern pole, the parent constellation gets dimmer, and very close to the pole it may be visible yet very dim.
So the main takeaway is that the closer you are to the south pole, the less are your chances to view this phenomena. Well you might not take this into account if you are pretty close to the equator, but if you are not then try to get close to the equator or in the northern hemisphere to maximize your chances of viewing. *Do not break covid-19 guidelines for achieving better location for viewing.
How to capture them in photos :
Well, just seeing those meteor showers is pretty awesome, but what is better is to capture them in photos. Photographing meteor showers can be a bit tricky , but I have just laid don the top 4 things you need to keep in your mind while going for a meteor shower watch and photograph it simultaneously.
- Place
- lighting
- time
- equipment
Place :
Place matters the most when you are aiming to photograph the Draconids. As I have told you earlier in this very post, the Draconoid meteor shower can be prominently seen in the northern hemisphere and as you go low into the southern hemisphere, it results into your chances of seeing it. Well that's the first point of place, but if you want to photograph these showers then you need to get into a bit more depth.
You need to select a place which is pretty far away from cities and polluted areas so that the criteria of low quality image due to pollution is ruled out. Also you could select an area which is pretty high and alleviated from the ground so that you could raise higher than the pollution clouds which carry pretty heavy particles and offer to be a great obstacle for photographing the showers. So according to me, you could actually select an area which is on a hilltop /hill station. This way you could get some great images without the pollution bothering you.
credit : canva.com
Lighting :
What I mean by lighting is the amount of external light that you can face while trying to photograph the showers. This can be a great issue if you are trying to shoot the Drconids from a city or other urbanized areas where external city lights are a huge problem. These lights are easily able to overshadow the meteor showers and you might not get a pretty great image as you wished to.
To avoid this you should try and get to a location which is far from cities so that the external light pollution cannot affect your photos. Also if you are not interested in traveling out for photographing the Draconids, then you could invest in good quality Light Pollution Filters which help you cancel out all the extra unwanted light and can help you focus only on the bright lights of the meteors falling down. If you are interested in buying an light pollution filter or any other product for astrophotography, then you could read this article which breaks down what astrophotography is and also as a cherry on the cake, it offers great lists of astrophotography tools and comparison charts [ it also includes light pollution filters ]
Source : Brand: Desmond-ICE at amazon.com
Time :
In the case of the Draconids Meteor showers, time is not of much issue but still is important. The Draconid showers are pretty much visible as soon as it gets dark and the sun is at the horizon until the next day's sunrise happens which overshadows the meteors. So you have actually got a plenty of time to to see and photograph them. But what matters here is the day. These meteor showers are only visible in a certain time period and hence you should check in advance to mark those dates in your calendar.
Also, you could sign up for our mailing list by clicking on the bell icon on the bottom light corner of your screen and sign up by submitting your email address. This way, we will be able to inform you in prior about the Draconid showers and also on the very same day. You can check out our terms and services page for more information on as to how we will use the information submitted by you.
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Equipment :
In case of equipment, they may or may not be required to shoot the Draconids. You can get pretty good shots with your normal mobile cameras as well. But, if you want a really professional like photos, then you could try and invest into good quality of telescopes with camera attachments enabled in it. This way, your telescope will do all the work of enlarging, glorifying and adjusting the lights of the image with a very clear zoom and then, you can get your camera at work and easily capture photos. Also, according to space.com you could just hold your mobile camera at the eye piece and click great quality photos, this way you won't even need great cameras for clicking professional images.
The only thing I would suggest is to only invest in good quality telescopes if you are sure you will use them frequently. If not then you can also take really good photos with your mobile camera as well. The reason behind this is tat telescopes require a lot of maintenance, especially the newtonian type of telescope. So if you want to get some tips on its maintenance then check out this article whch unfolds everything yo need to take care of for assuring a smooth working telescope.
If you want to take my advice, then you should not spend a ton of money on buying a telescope and use your mobile camera instead. But if you are an professional astrophotogrpaher, or want to become one, then this could be the perfect scenario to purchase a good quality telescope and make the most out of it. Below is a refernce picture :-
Attention users : All the pictures, countdown timers and information regarding the Draconids is taken from numerous authorotative sites. No violation of copy rights is done. We therby don't allo anyone to directly use media on this page ( pictures which are not labelled wih any source and word-to-word text ). One can use this information and media for educational purposes but using it for commercial use or directly re-uploading the content on the web is not allowed. For more information, you can check out the about us and privacy policy pages. Thank you !
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