Kate and I got up at 3:26 a.m. — that’s what the clock said — to see if we could get an eyeful of the Quadrantid meteor shower last night. (Why so late/early? It was after moonset here, and meteor visibility would be better.) We each saw one pretty good streak before crawling back into bed. Of course, I stayed out for half an hour hoping to get one on camera–and in fact the one I saw flashed by while the lens was open, but it was outside the frame. In any case I got a couple of OK star shots, including this one of the Big Dipper, which was virtually overhead; Polaris, the North Star, is just above and to the right of the tree on the left.
Wow…that is a nice photo.
Mars was visible at that time last night. Not in this picture. I’ve been putting that skywatch app up to your photo and seeing if I can identify a couple of those visible stars. I guess I am seeing “Kocab” and “Pherkad” in Ursa Minor. “Cor Caroli” (upper right of photo) in Ursa Major. What say you? Would you feel safe in an outrigger canoe that I was navigating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? I know I wouldn’t…later.