I shot this from 2:34 AM to 5:01 AM on August 13, 2019 at Lake Henshaw in San Diego County, California. This is a stack of 420 individual frames shot with a Canon 6D and Canon 17-40mm f4/L lens. Seeing - let alone shooting - the Perseids this year was quite a challenge due to the nearly full moon that was keeping the sky lit up out here until about 4:10 AM or so. And shortly after the last light of the moon went away, the first light of the rising sun began taking its place. Nonetheless, I managed to see a few meteors and capture some of the brighter ones. To the left are Iridium flares (sunlight reflecting off the Iridium satellites) and to the right are Perseid meteors. I started shooting atop nearby Palomar Mountain as I really wanted to get a bright Perseid fireball streaking over some urban lights in the distance, but nothing was going on up there. Some other skywatchers stopped by and suggested I head on down to Lake Henshaw - so I did. I hung out with them and one other person and we had some nice conversations and enjoyed the sky show together.
Some star trails I shot over Lake Henshaw last night (well, actually very early Saturday morning). I had hoped to also capture some Perseids, but I didn't see any meteors until I had packed up and was heading back to my truck around 2:30 A.M. It was a bit chilly out here the other night, but the air and water were super calm and reflective. This image is a stack of 161 frames in StarStaX. Each frame shot with a Canon 6D and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens at 25 sec f/2.8 ISO 2000. Lake Henshaw is a Reservoir in San Diego County, California at the southeast base of Palomar Mountain, approximately 70 miles (110 km) northeast of San Diego, California and 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Los Angeles. The lake covers approximately 1,140 acres (460 ha) and holds 55,000 acre feet (68,000,000 m3) of water when full (lowered in 1978 from its original capacity of 203,581 acre feet (251,113,000 m3) out of earthquake concerns), in addition to groundwater stored in its local basin. It drains an area of 207 square miles (540 km2) square miles at the source of the San Luis Rey River. The lake was constructed in 1923 with the building of Henshaw Dam, an earth dam 123 feet (37 m) tall and 650 feet (200 m) long. It is owned by the Vista Irrigation District and used primarily for agricultural irrigation.
While shooting a time-lapse, I managed to capture a nice green Perseid meteor above some of my favorite trees here in the Cleveland National Forest. This was captured on August 4th at 1:40 AM using a Canon 6D and Sigma 15mm EX DG lens. Note: Although the peak of the Perseids this year will occur around August 11 - 13, these dates will coincide with a full moon. In my opinion, you're better off heading out to here or another dark sky area right now - when there will still be several hours of dark sky after moonset - rather than waiting for the peak. Mount Laguna consists of a small general store, rustic lodge and cabins, local restaurant, rural post office, and campgrounds adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail. The Laguna Mountain Recreation Area surrounds the village, and the visitor's center for the pine-covered area is located here. The mountain backcountry of San Diego County is high enough to receive snowfall in winter months, and the Mount Laguna region offers locally-unique winter recreation in the form of snow play, sledding, and cross country skiing for several days after larger storms. Mount Laguna is part of the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego County. This forest is named after former president Grover Cleveland.
