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December Meteors


In early December I grabbed the camera and headed to the causeway.  You remember that place, right?  Its a land and bridge connection from Clearwater to Tampa.  Next to the 4-way about a 1/3 of the way across is a parking area and walking/biking/jogging bridge perpendicular to the car traffic.  Neat place, really.  I was going after the Geminid meteor showers on the off chance I'd get one.  No such luck but it was a nice night and always fun to be out when the rest of the place is asleep.






The next set of 5 pictures are unremarkable in all ways.  The only reason I am posting them is the little object in the lower right side.  I don't know of any toys or beach items that you light and put them in the water.  Back in my G-Burg days we had a large pond in the back yard that had lit balls that floated for decorative purposes.  Maybe the thing in the water was something like it.  It kind of moved back and forth a bit with the current.  Because my exposures were approximately 20 seconds the light looks elongated.   







I originally thought the light was a reflection from somewhere, and. you know, it might have been.  But it seemed so constant.







It's drifting to the right.







There it goes...







And it's gone.







It's not accurate to say that the city lights drown out the stars.  As you can see this shot that I took at Datsko Park after trying to catch meteors from the causeway, there are stars.  But they are certainly faint and diminished.  And this was a 20 second exposure.  Give me good old dark Midwest skies anytime.

It's Monday, they sure roll around fast.   

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