Meteors and the Milky Way off the Dublin Coastline
07th July 2021
In: Astrophotography
Blog entry (c) Adrian Hendroff
In the early hours of 6th May 2021, I set off to photograph the milky way rising off the Dublin coast of Rush with my friends James and Ronan. Making our way down a narrow path to a rocky foreshore southeast of Rush Harbour, we could see millions of stars twinkling in the clear night sky. A Martello Tower overlooks this stretch of coast, which is sheltered by a strip of high ground on its landward end; handy as it blocks off light pollution from nearby streets and Rush town. The spiky rock formations found here adds some much-needed foreground interest while shooting out to sea in the direction of Lambay Island, where the milky way will arch over when it rises.
The night sky, however, wasn’t all about the milky way. The Eta Aquarids, the third meteor shower of the year (after the Quadrantid and Lyrid) was due to put on a show in the predawn hours. With around 10 meteors per hour expected from its point of origin to the southeast, this location was ideal to try and capture both the milky way and the Eta Aquarids in the same frame. However, saying that I must stress that photographing meteors is a bit like wildlife photography or even fishing – you could be there for a while waiting!
With the tripod in place and focus manually established, it meant I could relax and enjoy the show. The plan was to shoot the milky way, then leave the camera to shoot a sequence of frames over the next hour and a half or so to catch any meteors. The calm conditions and tide which was approaching its low state, meant I do could this in comfort - my only regret was accidentally leaving my flask of hot tea back in the car!
First up was shooting around a dozen of frames around the time when the galactic core became visible highest in the sky. As I wasn’t using a Star Tracker, the idea is to stack these frames later in Sequator to help reduce noise, hot pixels, light pollution and in some cases, I find it is even useful to give the stars in my image more pop.
Once the milky way was captured, it was a matter of waiting for any meteors to streak across the eastern sky. “Look, one overhead!”, yelled Ronan making me look up just in time to catch a streak of light. I shot nearly 360 frames, and in the end only used 11. As dawn approached, I did a final exposure to take in the foreground, as the glimmer of light out on the horizon meant I could reduce my ISO to improve image quality.
Interested in an Astrophotography Workshop?
We run regular Beginners Astrophotography workshops throughout the year via Zoom and on-location in Ireland. To find out more, click here.
Image above stacked and blended from a combination of exposures.
Distinguishing Meteors from Plane Trails and Satellites
Plane trails are easily identifiable by the dotted patterns along solid lines – these dots caused by blinking aircraft wing and tail lights. Satellite streaks are a bit trickier to identify: in the image above, I counted up to 5 meteors, the rest are satellite streaks – so how can one tell the difference? Well, in a nutshell, you’ll rarely find meteors in consecutive frames; if you see them in 3 frames or more it’s more than likely a satellite. Unlike satellites, meteors generally have one long tapered end and fluctuates in brightness, bulging before burning up. Meteors also typically have colour and can be traced back to a radiant point. For an in-depth blog on how to distinguish meteors from satellites read a detailed blog here by Alyn Wallace, author of the forthcoming Photographing The Night Sky book published by Fotovue. If you’re living in Ireland and Northern Ireland, a selection of Fotovue books can be purchased from here, whereas outside of Ireland, please buy them direct from Fotovue or you’ll also find them on Amazon.
Rush at Sunrise
This location is also great for photographing the sunrise, below is an image to whet your appetite. You can get this packaged and ready to hang on your wall at home or in the office. If you’re living in Ireland/Northern Ireland click here or if in the UK/Europe/USA/Canada/Australia click here.
Forthcoming Meteors Showers
Getting To Rush
Rush is a small seaside town south of Skerries and around half-an-hour’s drive from Dublin Airport. Head north on the M1 and exit at Junction 4. then aim for the R132 in the direction of Skerries/Rush. Later take the R127 by turning right just after passing Blakes Cross Service Centre and follow signs for the R127/R128 over some roundabouts to Rush. Park in spaces adjacent to a playground (and just after The Harbour Bar) near Rush Harbour.
Lat/Long: 53.522577, -6.0820633
Grid Ref: O 272 542
what3words: ///parity.carnivore.stays
Like What You See?
Then be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for regular updates.
In the early hours of 6th May 2021, I set off to photograph the milky way rising off the Dublin coast of Rush with my friends James and Ronan. Making our way down a narrow path to a rocky foreshore southeast of Rush Harbour, we could see millions of stars twinkling in the clear night sky. A Martello Tower overlooks this stretch of coast, which is sheltered by a strip of high ground on its landward end; handy as it blocks off light pollution from nearby streets and Rush town. The spiky rock formations found here adds some much-needed foreground interest while shooting out to sea in the direction of Lambay Island, where the milky way will arch over when it rises.
The night sky, however, wasn’t all about the milky way. The Eta Aquarids, the third meteor shower of the year (after the Quadrantid and Lyrid) was due to put on a show in the predawn hours. With around 10 meteors per hour expected from its point of origin to the southeast, this location was ideal to try and capture both the milky way and the Eta Aquarids in the same frame. However, saying that I must stress that photographing meteors is a bit like wildlife photography or even fishing – you could be there for a while waiting!
With the tripod in place and focus manually established, it meant I could relax and enjoy the show. The plan was to shoot the milky way, then leave the camera to shoot a sequence of frames over the next hour and a half or so to catch any meteors. The calm conditions and tide which was approaching its low state, meant I do could this in comfort - my only regret was accidentally leaving my flask of hot tea back in the car!
First up was shooting around a dozen of frames around the time when the galactic core became visible highest in the sky. As I wasn’t using a Star Tracker, the idea is to stack these frames later in Sequator to help reduce noise, hot pixels, light pollution and in some cases, I find it is even useful to give the stars in my image more pop.
Once the milky way was captured, it was a matter of waiting for any meteors to streak across the eastern sky. “Look, one overhead!”, yelled Ronan making me look up just in time to catch a streak of light. I shot nearly 360 frames, and in the end only used 11. As dawn approached, I did a final exposure to take in the foreground, as the glimmer of light out on the horizon meant I could reduce my ISO to improve image quality.
Interested in an Astrophotography Workshop?
We run regular Beginners Astrophotography workshops throughout the year via Zoom and on-location in Ireland. To find out more, click here.
Image above stacked and blended from a combination of exposures.
- Sky - Milky Way: Canon 5DMkIV, Sigma 14mm f/1.8DG Art, ISO 3200, 15.0s at f/1.8. 12x stacked in Sequator. Tripod.
- Sky - Meteors and Satellites: Canon 5DMkIV, Sigma 14mm f/1.8DG Art, ISO 3200, 15.0s at f/1.8. 11x stacked in Sequator. Tripod.
- Foreground: Canon 5DMkIV, Sigma 14mm f/1.8DG Art, ISO 640, 120.0s at f/1.8. Tripod.
Distinguishing Meteors from Plane Trails and Satellites
Plane trails are easily identifiable by the dotted patterns along solid lines – these dots caused by blinking aircraft wing and tail lights. Satellite streaks are a bit trickier to identify: in the image above, I counted up to 5 meteors, the rest are satellite streaks – so how can one tell the difference? Well, in a nutshell, you’ll rarely find meteors in consecutive frames; if you see them in 3 frames or more it’s more than likely a satellite. Unlike satellites, meteors generally have one long tapered end and fluctuates in brightness, bulging before burning up. Meteors also typically have colour and can be traced back to a radiant point. For an in-depth blog on how to distinguish meteors from satellites read a detailed blog here by Alyn Wallace, author of the forthcoming Photographing The Night Sky book published by Fotovue. If you’re living in Ireland and Northern Ireland, a selection of Fotovue books can be purchased from here, whereas outside of Ireland, please buy them direct from Fotovue or you’ll also find them on Amazon.
Rush at Sunrise
This location is also great for photographing the sunrise, below is an image to whet your appetite. You can get this packaged and ready to hang on your wall at home or in the office. If you’re living in Ireland/Northern Ireland click here or if in the UK/Europe/USA/Canada/Australia click here.
Forthcoming Meteors Showers
- Delta Aquarid: peaking on 28/29 July at predawn to the south; around 10 meteors per hour.
- Perseid: peaking on 11/12 August at predawn to the northeast; around 50 meteors per hour.
Getting To Rush
Rush is a small seaside town south of Skerries and around half-an-hour’s drive from Dublin Airport. Head north on the M1 and exit at Junction 4. then aim for the R132 in the direction of Skerries/Rush. Later take the R127 by turning right just after passing Blakes Cross Service Centre and follow signs for the R127/R128 over some roundabouts to Rush. Park in spaces adjacent to a playground (and just after The Harbour Bar) near Rush Harbour.
Lat/Long: 53.522577, -6.0820633
Grid Ref: O 272 542
what3words: ///parity.carnivore.stays
Like What You See?
Then be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for regular updates.