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(c) Jeff Berkes Photography
This photo combines the landscape of the Florida Keys with the flash of a meteor above on the night of Jan. 3-4, at the peak of the Quadrantid meteors.
January is the perfect time for a road trip to Florida, and if there's a promising meteor shower to see, so much the better. That's what brought photographer Jeff Berkes down from Pennsylvania to the Florida Keys. The payoff came in the form of a stunning set of pictures showing the Quadrantid meteors at their peak.
"The Florida Keys sounded really good in January for the Quadrantid meteor shower, but Mother Nature had the cold front follow me all the way south," Berkes wrote in his Flickr photo gallery. "The record low temperature for Key West is 41 degrees. It went down to 46, with winds around 20-30 mph near Big Pine Key this particular night on January 3rd / 4th, 2012."
Berkes bundled up in two sweatshirts and a fleece, plus "a mad bomber hat" and winter gloves. Then he waited for the light show to begin. He wasn't disappointed.
One picture shows twisted trees in the Keys, with a meteor flashing in the sky above. "That was captured earlier in the night, while the moon was still up," Berkes told me in an email. "It might even be just a random meteor instead of a Quadrantid meteor."
Scientists say the Quadrantids are sparked every year on the night of Jan. 3-4, when Earth passes through the trail of cosmic grit left behind by a burnt-out comet now known as asteroid 2003 EH1. These particular meteors appear to emanate from a now-obsolete constellation known as Quadrans Muralis, or the Mural Quadrant. That's why they're known as the Quadrantids.
This year was a particularly good year for the "Quads," in part because because the moon had set by the time the meteor shower really got going. This year's shower was reported to reach a peak ratae of roughly 80 shooting stars per hour in the wee hours of Jan. 4. Berkes benefited from a bonus: the faint glow of the zodiacal light. You can see it in the picture below:
(c) Jeff Berkes Photography
A green light pen was used to add "2012" as a signature to this photo of a meteor and the zodiacal light over the Florida Keys.
"The triangular column of light you see is the zodiac lights, stretching up into the night sky before dawn," Berkes told me. "Light coming from the sun [while it's] well below the horizon is scattered by 'space dust,' making it visible in dark locations before sunrise and after sunset. It is definitely something I do not see every day."
Berkes said he counted close to 100 meteors while he was out. He has mastered a technique called "light painting," which calls for adding illumination to a night scene during a long exposure. We featured one of his light-painting photos last fall during the Orionid meteor shower, and you can see the effect in these photo as well.
"The '2012' in green is just another light-painting trick with a special green pen," he wrote. "The Quadrantids of 2012 were certainly better than 2011. I'm thinking it could be a sign that 2012 will be an even better year than 2011."
I'm thinking the same... Or at least wishing it will be so.
Check out Berkes' Flickr photostream or his Web site for additional visual treasures. You'll find more Quadrantid images at the SpaceWeather.com Web site. There could be still more night-sky sights on the way: SpaceWeather.com's Tony Phillips says a coronal mass ejection from the sun "might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field" on Saturday, sparking enhanced auroras.
The next big meteor show is farther out on the schedule: The Lyrids are due to reach their peak on the night of April 22-23.
More meteoric marvels:
- Quadrantid meteor show sparks chills and thrills
- Astronaut catches a falling star during the Perseids
- Can you spot the missing meteor in this video?
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
BUY AMERICAN!!!
umm, relevance to the article how?
american made meteorites...are rare to find...with all them foreign made ones...flooding the market...and i think some are made here by aliens...should have never let them park that ufo...with that green card them little green men carry around...
The photographer came down from PA which is in America. Besides that, a little plug for American labor never hurts anyone but foreign importers.
they all shop at ... wal-martian for metorites...made in china...
We invented meteorites, Japan made them more efficient and smaller, China has has been pirating them making fakes and selling them for half price ever since. Nice to see a real one for once.
Uhm, I don't support greedy unions that think they are God's gift to man. I will only buy American if it is NON-UNION made. I haven't bought a US made car in over a decade and will never buy another so long as it's UAW made. They are trying to bully BMW and Mercedes to unionize in their plants in the US. So much for freedom in America. Thank God I still have a choice on what to buy. But Obama & goons may just change that down the road if he gets another four years as Marxist In Chief*.
Oh wait, this article was about meteorites. My bad! But it's nice to have gotten that off my chest.
*Rush Limbaugh and Fox News did not tell me to say that and I am not a paid blogger by those evil republicons.
This guys flikr page is loaded with amazing photos.. This guy deserves the recognition for his work
im the 5th poster
obliviously taking the fifth...cause you don't want to incriminate yourself...wise maneuver...but your second...
Doh!
lol...
had a friend once said a meteorite hit him in the head...told him he'd better stay out of cow pasture...and he better leave the mule alone before it killed him...meteorites don't leave marks like a horse shoe...
when's the next meteor shower ...Mr. Boyle...
I want to watch one dry off.
Next meteor shower is April 22-23. 'Hope they don't get to smelling too bad by then.
You guys are the biggest dorks on this planet
I know YOU are but what am I?
I saw a falling star once, so I made a wish, then I looked beside me only to be dismayed at the realization there was no big bag of money there, that wishing upon a star crap doesn't work.
I'm sticking to Rainbows and Leprechauns
I was a falling star - until I stopped drinking!
I like stories like this; they're a breath of fresh air. Wouldn't it be nice to read fascinating, encouraging, and wonderful columns as front page spreads, rather than the ongoing war, crime, and punishment negative blitz?
They say, "negative sells", but I think that they shoved it down our throats for so long that we don't know any better.
Love the photo with the mangrove.
I used to live in the keys. I haven't had a decent unobstructed view of the night sky since I left.
Beautiful job to have...love the pics...can I come work for you?
Bravo,
Enjoy, is real and truth.
Thank you Jeff Berkes
Happy New Year
Thanks you Mr. Jeff Berkes for sharing your beautiful pictures. Thank you for reminding us the beauty of Mother Nature.
Nice Picture.
This gentleman obviously knows his way around with a camewra. Great job! Beautiful pictures! Thank you very much.
6th
most seem to agree that the pictures are nice - and Kodak is going broke?
NASA should hire this guy. His pics are way better than the black and white ones they took of the moon that cost us 504 million.
Was he over 16 miles from his subject? Or how about controlling his camera from over 200,000 miles away and traveling several thousand miles per hour with a temperature of 200F in the sun and -200F in the shadows??? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Besides all that his pictures are amazing!
Outstanding photos, I enjoyed them very much.
Meteors are caused by globle warming.
Richard,it's the other way around. By the way,can anyone tell me how to get the stupid "older-newer" to leave my screen?
I can't find the meteor!!!
Love the pics! Just glad there was no treasure found in Uranus.
If you park your UFO too long in one place, you'll be ticketed by a " meteor maid ".!!
Anyone who travels to fL0rid@ will get far more than they hoped for.
The place is an abject @!$%#hole, wherein the "regional attitude," (did you think certain spots on the map only had regional accents?) is anger and spite.
God help you if the local thuggery spots you as a tourist.
Everyone there is an out-of-work criminal, (even when the economy was good) who answers to a peer group who would hound and chastise him if he didn’t commit a violent act against you.
Each driver is a drunk with no insurance.
Think I’m kidding?
You’ve been warned.
That's right, Rog...we're all thugs down here...so leave our state and NEVER come back! We can get along just fine without all the pain in the a$$ tourists that don't know how to drive & take over our restaurants and beaches from January to April - and if you think you want to come down during the summer months, think again - you'll melt! So just leave us alone!
@ Roger Fear. Are you serious about your Florida claim? I've lived in Florida for 7 years now, it is a very nice place to live! Yes, Florida does have its ruff areas, as do most American States do. Just a question Roger Fear, Are you scared to go outside?
The Night Sky down here in Florida is absolutely amazing! Almost every night is a clear night, with awesome views of the Stars, Milky Way and Planets(if you know where to look)... I love the pictures Mister. I wish Meteor Shower, I would have went outside looked for some... @ a commentor Above; Meteors are not made by "Global Warming" Look it up on Wikipedia if you weren't taught that in School. I suggest everyone look up, "List Of Galaxys" on Wikipedia, Its a very good read & they have some amazing pictures for you to look at!
Peace Out
lol I have some typo's in my previous message. I just wanted to point this out before it starts an all out correction war on the blog. This thing loads the letters I type very slowly for some unknown reason. I still would love everyone to look up (List of Galaxys) on Wikipedia. Also look up (Meteors & Asteroids). & (The Milky Way), Very interesting to see where we EVOLVED, Location-Wise in the Universe. We are alot smaller than we all can even imagine. "DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF"
Very nice! Wish I had known about this, I would have driven down to the Keys to witness this in person and take my own set of pictures.
the stars are eternal beauty,whereas humanity is a speck on the cosmic time line...beauty endures