On the night of August the 13th, Kaliningrad astronomers captured aurora borealis and the Perseid meteor shower at the same time. Normally, aurora borealis is visible only at higher latitudes, but a solar storm made it possible to observe the Northern lights in Kaliningrad.
The burst of solar activity coincided with one of the most plentiful meteor showers — the Perseids, which peaked on August 12th. This meteor shower, generated by bits of debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, can be observed annually. Bits of ice and rock no larger than a grain of sand burn up in our planet’s atmosphere with bright flashes visible to the naked eye. Although all the particles move along parallel trajectories, to an observer on Earth they appear to emanate from the Perseus constellation, which is how the meteor shower got its name.
Members of the IKBFU Astronomical Society conducted several meteor hunts. The photographers took part in an out-of-town trip organised by the KoenigAstro club of Kaliningrad astronomy enthusiasts, where they took a series of images with a ZWO 294MC astrocamera. After nearly four hours of filming, the footage was edited into a short video that showcases the aurora borealis along with meteor flashes.
Perseids and Aurora Borealis in Kaliningrad |
Another Society member, Rodion Boruknov, took several long-exposure shots of aurora borealis over a Kaliningrad suburb. In one of the photos a meteor flash is clearly visible above the northern lights.
Личный кабинет для
Личный кабинет для cтудента
Даю согласие на обработку представленных персональных данных, с Политикой обработки персональных данных ознакомлен
Подтверждаю согласие