How to photograph a meteor shower

Head for the country and point your camera toward the sky

Four Leonid meteors are seen streaking through the sky over Joshua Tree National Park, Calif., looking to the northwest in the Southern California desert in this approximately 15-minute time exposure ending at 3:20 a.m. PST (11:20 UT) Sunday, Nov. 18, 2001 — AP Photo/Reed Saxon

By Stan Horaczek

The 2017 solar eclipse has been getting all the press lately, but there’s another photogenic event happening in the sky soon, and there’s no chance it will scorch your eyeballs. The Perseid meteor shower peaks in mid-August, with this year’s brightest show happening on August 12th. If you want some tips on how to find the best viewing time and spot, check out NASA’s post on the subject. Then, drag out your camera (and your tripod) and try to catch some of those wonderful streaks as they shoot across the night sky.

A bright Perseid Meteor cuts across Orion’s Belt at five a.m. Tuesday morning during the peak of the annual Perseid Meteor Shower Aug. 12,1997 — AP Photo/Wally Pacholka

Find the darkest spot available

If you dwell in a big, bright city with a lot of lights, your chances of catching a worthwhile meteor image are going to be slim. You’re going to be dealing with long-exposures and wide-open apertures, which means any environmental light will creep into the frame and overpower the image. If possible, get out into the country where streetlights and neon signs are few and far between. Apps like this Light Pollution Map can be helpful in finding the nearest bit of clean sky…