The only show was an airplane.

Yesterday's blog was on the Geminid meteor shower. I decided to go out and see what kind of luck I had with getting some shots. And so, shortly after 6:00, I departed with camera and tripod in tow. My original plan was to head out to one of two places north of the city where there were only empty skies. No trees, lights, or hoards of people to get in the way. My spirits plummeted as I got near my first destination; the fog had rolled in.

Both places were near rivers and small bodies of water. Seeing as how these lowlands were fogged in and open sky did not exist I decided to head to points of higher elevation. Rocky Ridge is a newly developed community in northeast Maple Ridge where I live. As I got closer the skies opened up and the fog disappeared. I knew of a position that offered an unobstructed view of the heavens and headed there. Indeed, I found an excellent spot to photograph what I hoped would be an excellent display of comet trails and northern lights.

I set up my camera and determined my best exposure settings would be to use an ISO of 800 at f/8.0 and a shutter speed of 1/800th of a second. I was content with the outcome and so waited for the show to begin.

Nothing. No comet trails were visible. If they were there, I couldn't see them and my camera didn't uncover them. No northern lights. An utterly quiet night with no clouds or moon to affect the sky and nothing happened. The monotony was broken up when a passenger jet showed up. The perfectly straight streak you see in the sky with the flashing lights (the regularly spaced dots) was an aircraft probably heading for the Vancouver Airport. After waiting 45 minutes and developing very cold hands I decided it was time to pack it in.

Tomorrow night is supposed to be good as well. I think I will try again but go out later in the evening. The darker sky should provide a better backdrop for the impending spectacle and it will be when the Geminids are at their highest concentration. Hopefully, the northern lights will make an appearance too.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen

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