An astrophotographer from the district was thrilled to snap photos of the Perseids as the annual meteor shower peaked on Saturday night and the early hours of Sunday.
The photos taken by Sarath Prabhav, a science communicator and amateur astrophotographer who resides at Pappanamcode, show meteors streaking across the star-spangled sky.
To avoid the light pollution over Thiruvananthapuram city, the 30-year-old set up his equipment at Kulathupuzha in the neighbouring Kollam district. Armed with a Nikon Z6II camera, he managed to take several photos between 1.50 a.m. and 2.50 a.m. on Sunday. The camera was rigged with a NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 lens with shutter speeds set at 20 seconds.
Nearly 180 photos were taken in all, out of which six ‘trapped’ the meteors.
‘’It’s the same technique that you use to snap photos of lightning,’‘ Mr. Prabhav, who is a member of the Amateur Astronomers Organisation - Kerala (AASTRO Kerala), said. There are several hurdles to overcome before you land a clear image, according to him. Light pollution over urban locales can be a problem in thickly-populated places like Kerala, for instance.
From the photography perspective, you need a cloudless sky. The Perseids are quite swift, and so you need to make adjustments for that as well. Again, a bright moon could mess up your plans. ‘‘Unlike other meteor showers, the Perseids are quite bright. The ideal scenario is when the shower peaks close to the new moon date,’‘ he said.
A popular celestial spectacle with skygazers, the Perseid meteor shower occurs during July-August annually as the earth passes through debris trails originating from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The meteor shower were so named as they seem to emerge from the direction of the constellation Perseus.
Mr. Prabhav, who holds an MPhil degree, has been a member of AASTRO Kerala since 2012. He got hooked to astrophotography around five years ago.
