Caught a meteor shower photo by accident at Sky Meadows Park last September

I was setting up my telescope to capture Jupiter when a random streak of light crossed my frame. The camera caught a bright fireball meteor that I didn't even see with my own eyes at the time. Has anyone else managed to snag a great shot while focused on something completely different?

3 comments

3 Comments

calebw502mo ago

That random streak of light crossed my frame" really got me thinking. I had something kind of similar happen a few years back at a buddy's farm. I was out there trying to get a clean shot of the Milky Way with an old DSLR I had borrowed, and I must have bumped the tripod during a long exposure because the whole thing came out blurry. But there was this faint greenish streak right through the middle of the frame that I almost deleted before I realized it was a meteor that had come through exactly when I messed up. The blur actually made it look kind of artistic, like a painting. I never could get a proper Milky Way shot that night, but I framed that messed up photo and it's still hanging in my garage. Sometimes the accidents turn out better than what you were aiming for.

ryan7192mo ago

Frame it as "happy little accidents," right? That meteor knew exactly when to photobomb your blurry mess.

grant.jason1mo ago

That bit about the greenish streak and the blur making it look like a painting is wild. I wonder if the green color was from something specific like magnesium in the meteor or if it was just how your camera sensor picked up the light. Did you ever try to figure out what caused the green tint or just roll with it as a lucky accident? Makes me think half the battle is just having the camera pointed in the right direction at the wrong time.