Description
Description: Here is my first photo from La Palma, where I experienced a real rollercoaster astro trip!
Why was it like that? The weather conditions didn’t let us rest for even a few minutes! We had everything from rain, thunderstorms, strong winds, snow, warm summer temperatures, and of course clear skies!
There was a night when we had to pack up the photographic equipment into the car three times and set it up again in place because of rain. Crazy!
But the night when the peak of the Geminid meteor shower was scheduled was a real treat for the eyes. For the first time in my life, I captured Red Sprites with the naked eye and also in the camera. The thunderstorm was happening over the island of Tenerife, where we could observe the rise of Orion at the beginning of this crazy night! Woooow, what powerful reddish light it was when I saw that quick flash in the sky! Dan and Astronomad quickly checked their cameras to see if they had captured the Red Sprites, and it was captured forever!
When I looked at my camera, to my disappointment, it appeared just behind a small tree that I had chosen as the foreground for the timelapse…I quickly moved the camera a bit higher and back, hoping for another catch! And to my great luck, I managed to capture three more Red Sprites.
The photo is a single exposure, while the foreground is identical but with focus stacking. The only Geminid meteor that appeared during this timelapse is registered using the Auriga Registar software, so in the end, it’s a truly unique and the most authentic photo with a lot of great memories from that night!
Gear:
Nikon Z6IIa
Sony 14 1.8 GM + Viltrox E-Z adapter
Focus on star mask: https://focusonstars.com/ref/
Category: Single exposure, focus stacked
Exif:
- Sky: iso6400, f1.8, 20s single frame
- Foreground: iso6400, f1.8, 80s, 2x focus stacked
Geminid meteor captured from Red Sprites timelapse, registered using Auriga Registar software
Location and date: La Palma, Rogue de los muchachos observatory – CTAO Telescopes, 13.12.2026
