Trying to find a semi-cool dark place to watch the meteors

[profdant139]

The Perseids are coming up -- no moon -- great conditions for boondocking and stargazing. Except that the Eastern Sierra, my go-to location, is full of smoke and is not likely to be clear two weeks from now.

Where else can we go that is not a hundred degrees and smoky? Utah is a possibility, but that is 500 miles from home. The mountains of Eastern San Diego County are ok, but there is noticeable light pollution. Rural coastal California is likely to be foggy on a summer night -- not always, but that is the way to bet.

Any great ideas?

If we can't figure out what to do, we will have to stay home and go to the beach. The water is warm, the waves are decent, it is right nearby, etc. Very nice, but it ain't boondocking. I like surfing (been doing it since the late 1950s!), but we have discovered (to our shock) that we like camping more.

[Trailblazer87]

The local astronomy club uses a campground at Eastman Lake in Madera County, California, on the west side of the Sierra's. I have gone up there myself and can tell you that i have seen the sky glow myself, no light pollution, darkness gets down to about magnitude 11 or so and with the current weather conditions things have been nice and clear.

[Roy_Lynne]

Joshua Tree. We lived in the town of, many years ago, and decided to go to the park to watch the one in November. About 11 pm I noticed the traffic going up our hill was really heavy so we took off and I swear we could hardly find a place to park and it you have been to JT you know that is almost an impossible statement.
Also, no one believes me, but I swear a few times we actually heard the meteors hit, sounding like Whish wish wish wish ish sh sh sh. Also a lot of parks offer star gazing programs in Utah and the Badlands in SD would be awesome.

[profdant139]

Bizmark's Mom, I'm sorry to hear that -- last summer, when we were in the Sawtooths for the eclipse, we had periods of smoke and periods of clear skies, on and off. There was so much bark beetle damage. We talked about it with a ranger, and he said, "Yep. Enjoy it while it's still green."

[BizmarksMom]

Up in the Sawtooths it was meh. Too much smoke in the atmosphere to see anything.

[memtb]

profdant139 wrote:
Yep, next time for us, too.

It'll be a long time till there is a Perseid shower with no moon -- I think 2023, if I remember correctly.

If I sleep a few times between now and then.....I’ll probably have forgotten all about it!

Sorry, it didn’t work out for you either!

[Merrykalia]

I hung out for a couple of hours on Sunday night and saw two rather bright meteors, but decided I had to go to bed about 00:30.

[profdant139]

Yep, next time for us, too.

It'll be a long time till there is a Perseid shower with no moon -- I think 2023, if I remember correctly.

[memtb]

We successfully went boondocking, high in the Bighorns (Wyoming). We had clear skies, got up at 02:00 hrs. :Z, spent almost 2 hours lying on the ground, wishing I had dressed more warmly. 😞 The shower we observed.....didn’t even get us “damp”! :(. The photo’s were a “bust”! :MMaybe next time! :B

[vermilye]

On Saturday I had a wonderful location for the Perseids. Although it was in a commercial campground in Kabetogama, MN, our sites were at the top of a hill & no artificial light. Only problem was the smoke from Canadian wildfires. A few of the brighter stars could be seen, & I watched a satellite go by, but too much smoke to see or photograph any trails.

[profdant139]

We ended up going nowhere. Every place with dark skies within 500 miles is very hazy, and many places are cloudy due to monsoonal moisture. Huge disappointment.

Some other year.

On the other hand, this is one of those "first world" problems. "Poor me -- can't find a decent place to park my RV and watch meteors."

The good news is that the ocean water near us is in the mid-70s, with decent waves. So we will go camping in September, instead of August.

I hope some of our other friends from this forum were able to find good viewing!!

[memtb]

profdant139 wrote:
Some digital cameras (such as my DSLR) still have the bulb setting -- but anything longer than 30 seconds causes "star trails," where the earth's rotation moves the stars and blurs the image.

Thanks Dan, I should have thought about that. Similar to Coriolis Effect on long range shooting. I think you just saved us a lot of disappointment! Good Luck on finding a good location near your home! ??

[profdant139]

Some digital cameras (such as my DSLR) still have the bulb setting -- but anything longer than 30 seconds causes "star trails," where the earth's rotation moves the stars and blurs the image.

[memtb]

profdant139 wrote:
Todd, my recommendation on the camera is pretty simple -- set it on an ISO of 3200 if you have it, widest possible field of view, with an exposure of 20 to 30 seconds. Gotta use a tripod.

Then, take as many of those shots as you can -- you will probably capture at least one meteor trail.

Happy hunting!

Thanks Dan, I used to do a bit of photography....but we were still using film! 😞 We had the “bulb” availability! :@ Today, it looks like 20 to 30 seconds is all you have available! We have a lot to learn!

[profdant139]

Todd, my recommendation on the camera is pretty simple -- set it on an ISO of 3200 if you have it, widest possible field of view, with an exposure of 20 to 30 seconds. Gotta use a tripod.

Then, take as many of those shots as you can -- you will probably capture at least one meteor trail.

Happy hunting!