Photo of the Week for December 29, 2017
The Geminids are one of the best annual meteor displays, though it’s often hampered by December’s frequently cloudy and chilly weather. But this year, the shower’s other nemesis—moonlight—wasn’t a factor. This striking Geminid composite was captured by Cambridge, Ontario, photographer Matt Quinn at Algonquin Provincial Park on the night of December 13/14, during the display’s peak. Along with numerous Geminid streaks, the shot shows the constellation Orion near the centre and the brilliant star Sirius just above the tree line.
“I took a time-lapse set of images to capture the meteors, then at the end of the night, panned down slightly to get a frame that included the island,” Matt says. The sky portion of the image combines roughly 3½ hours total exposure, comprised of individual 13-second frames recorded at ISO 3200 with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR camera and a Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 lens.
