legacypodcast-blog

[legacypodcast-blog]

We're moving!

Because of a problem with the email we used to create this account, we're going to move our activity to account to @legacypod. We apologize for not being active on the tumblr but this change will help with that! Check out my personal @thanks-science for more info.

[legacypodcast-blog]

Legacy Trailer #1: The Countdown

More here

[legacypodcast-blog]

[legacypodcast-blog]

10 Things: How to Photograph a Meteor Shower

Taking photographs of a meteor shower can be an exercise in patience as meteors streak across the sky quickly and unannounced, but with these tips – and some good fortune – you might be rewarded with a great photo.

These tips are meant for a DSLR or mirrorless camera, but some point-and-shoot cameras with manual controls could be used as well.

1. The Photo Op: Perseids Meteors

The Perseids are dusty remnants of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

Earth passes through the comet’s invisible, multi-billion mile trail of tiny debris each year around August, creating a meteor shower of so-called “shooting stars” as the particles are vaporized in our atmosphere.

Perseid meteors already are streaking across the sky. This year’s shower peaks on a moonless summer night -from 4 pm on the 12th until 4 am on the 13th Eastern Daylight Time.

Read more on the Perseids ›

2. Get away from city lights and find a place with dark skies.

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky in Spruce Knob, West Virginia, during the 2016 Perseids meteor shower. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Too much light and it will be hard for your eyes to see fainter meteors, plus your image will get flooded with the glow of light. Turning down the brightness of the camera’s LCD screen will help keep your eyes adjusted to the dark. The peak of the 2018 Perseid meteor shower occurs just after the new moon, meaning a thin crescent will set long before the best viewing hours, leaving hopeful sky watchers with a moonlight-free sky!

3. Use a tripod.

In this ten-second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky above Washington, DC during the 2015 Perseids meteor shower, Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Meteor photography requires long exposures, and even the steadiest of hands can’t hold a camera still enough for a clear shot. Heavier tripods help reduce shaking caused by wind and footsteps, but even a lightweight tripod will do. You can always place sandbags against the feet of the tripod to add weight and stability. If you don’t have a tripod, you might be able to prop your camera on or up against something around you, but be sure to secure your camera.

4. Use a wide-angle lens.

In this 30 second exposure taken with a circular fish-eye lens, a meteor streaks across the sky during the 2016 Perseids meteor shower as a photographer wipes moisture from the camera lens Friday, August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

A wide-angle lens will capture more of the sky and give you a greater chance of capturing a meteor in your shot, while a zoom lens captures a smaller area of the sky. The odds of a meteor streaking past that small patch are lower.

5. Use a shutter release cable or the camera’s built-in timer.

Long exposures are not just for meteors. In this shot taken at Joshua Tree National Park, a hiker’s headlamp leaves a trail of light along a twilight path. Credit: National Park Service / Hannah Schwalbe

A tripod does a great job of reducing most of the shaking your camera experiences, but even the act of pressing the shutter button can blur your extended exposure. Using the self-timer gives you several seconds for any shaking from pressing the shutter button to stop before the shutter is released. A shutter release cable (without a self-timer) eliminates the need to touch the camera at all. And if your camera has wifi capabilities, you might be able to activate the shutter from a mobile device.

6. Manually focus your lens.

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseids meteor shower Friday, August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

At night, autofocus will struggle to find something on which to focus. Setting your focus to infinity will get you close, but chances are you’ll have to take some test images and do some fine tuning. With your camera on a tripod, take a test image lasting a few seconds, then use the camera’s screen to review the image. Zoom in to a star to see how sharp your focus is. If the stars look like fuzzy blobs, make tiny adjustments to the focus and take another test image.

Repeat until you are happy with the result.

If your camera has a zoomable electronic viewfinder or live view option, you might be able to zoom to a star and focus without having to take a test image.

7. Aim your camera.

The Perseids appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, visible in the northern sky soon after sunset this time of year.

Even though we don’t know when or where a single meteor will appear, we do know the general area from which they’ll originate.

Meteor showers get their name based on the point in the sky from which they appear to radiate. In the case of the Perseids, during their peak, they appear to come from the direction of the constellation Perseus in the northern sky.

8. Calculate your exposure time.

In this 20-second exposure, a meteor lights up the sky over the top of a mountain ridge near Park City, Utah. Even though this image was captured during the annual Perseid meteor shower, this “shooting star” is probably not one of the Perseid meteors, which originate from material left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Instead, it’s likely one of the many bits of rock and dust that randomly fall into the atmosphere on any given night. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford

As Earth rotates, the stars in the sky appear to move, and if your shutter is open long enough, you might capture some of that movement. If you want to avoid apparent star movement, you can follow the 500 Rule. Take 500 and divide it by the length in millimeters of your lens. The resulting number is the length of time in seconds that you can keep your shutter open before seeing star trails. For example, if you’re using a 20 mm lens, 25 seconds (500 divided by 20) is the longest you can set your exposure time before star trails start to show up in your images.

9. Experiment!

In this 30 second exposure photo, hikers find their way to the top of Spruce Knob in West Virginia to view the annual Perseids meteor shower, Friday, August 12, 2016. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Once you know the maximum exposure time, you can set your shutter priority to that length and let the camera calculate other settings for your first image. Depending on how the image turns out, you can manually adjust aperture (set it to a lower number if the image is too dark) and ISO (set it to a higher number if the image is too dark) to improve your next images. Changing only one setting at a time will give you a better understanding of how those changes affect your image.

10. Enjoy the show.

The crew of the International Space Station captured this Perseid meteor falling to Earth over China in 2011. Credit: NASA

With your camera settings adjusted, capturing that perfect photo is just a matter of time and luck. The highest rate of meteors visible per hour is in the hours after midnight and before dawn. Set up your camera next to a lounge chair or a blanket to witness the wonder of a meteor shower for yourself – and, with any luck, you’ll take home some envy-inducing shots, too!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

[legacypodcast-blog]

Today's character moodboard is science officer Min Jun Hwang! Stay tuned to our Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram for upcoming announcements!

[legacypodcast-blog]

This family’s boat ride turned into a dramatic whale rescue — and the whale spent an hour thanking them in the best way!

[legacypodcast-blog]

Next character moodboard, science officer Duplessis "Dup" Rillieux.

[legacypodcast-blog]

Next character moodboard, meet medical officer Frida Bohr, our wonderful second-in-command.

[legacypodcast-blog]

Recording the music for episodes 1 to 4! Having fun with our wonderful audio engineer @lebestfan and our musicians Catherine and @thanks-science. We'll be wrapping up production this week so expect episodes next month!

[legacypodcast-blog]

Second moodboard, meet communications officer Qadira King-Noel!

[legacypodcast-blog]

First of the character moodboards, meet science officer Aisha Wozniak!

[legacypodcast-blog]

Another excellent reference!

Muslim Character Questions Round-Up!

Here is a helpful list of all of our posts about Muslim characters (up to date as of April 14, 2015). 

Muslim Woman Apocalypse Wear: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/116312637875/what-would-be-acceptable-for-a-muslim-woman-to

Muslim Vampires: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/114694169750/so-i-wanted-to-ask-about-a-post-where-you-talked

Muslim Werewolf Boy & Jewish Girl Friendship: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/114521564100/i-want-to-write-a-friendship-between-a-werewolf

Muslim Character Wants to be Hafiza: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113708866808/i-have-a-little-somali-american-muslim-girl-in

Non-Muslim Veils/Desert Dwellers: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113358823313/im-writing-a-story-with-a-princess-woc-and-as-she

Magic-Using Middle Eastern Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/113004084556/hi-i-love-your-blog-and-it-has-made-me-open-my

Muslim Female Protag; Studying Abroad with Demons: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/112723493574/hi-so-in-my-novel-my-mc-is-a-muslim-girl-who-was

Muslim Smuggler Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/111987712278/muslim-smuggler-character

Saudi Arabian Djinn Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110474368852/saudi-arabian-genie

99 Attributes of God: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110466080472/the-99-attributes-of-god

Wearing Scarf to Honor Heritage: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/110286554183/set-in-canada-one-of-my-characters-in-my-book-is

BONUS! Follow-up Part I: Can My Muslim Character Speak For Me II (Muslims and Extra-Marital Sex): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109823853373/can-my-muslim-character-speak-for-me-take-two

BONUS! Follow-up Part II: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109924826212/to-kaye-your-response-regarding-making-a-muslim

Muslim Superheroes: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109503121737/muslim-superheroes

White/Pale Characters with Arabic/Jewish Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109426818420/pale-characters-with-arabic-or-jewish-name

Indian Muslim Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109316938702/i-have-an-indian-character-with-a-muslim

Muslim Djinn and Rewriting A Religion: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109238705204/muslim-genies-rewriting-a-religion

Malay Muslim Customs: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109229126357/hey-first-off-i-just-wanted-to-say-that-i-love

Yiddish, Mizrahi, Palestinian Names: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108463835614/how-to-find-yiddish-mizrahi-and-palestinian

Arab Women Characters, Tropes to Avoid: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/109132959194/arab-women-characters-tropes-to-avoid

Reading Holy Books to Gain Perspective on a Character (from a Muslim and Jewish perspective): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108191176667/if-one-or-several-of-my-characters-especially

Muslim Magical Girls: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108200195494/is-a-muslim-magical-girl-offensive

Muslims in China: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/107909113346/on-one-hand-im-definitely-not-chinese-so-perhaps

BONUS! Follow-up (aka Don’t Speak Over Marginalized People): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/108100437380/on-speaking-over-marginalized-people

Naming Muslim Woman After Hindu God: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106922167611/hi-ive-been-recommended-to-come-speak-to-you-i

Racism in France (not an ask specifically about Muslims, but there is a discussion on Islamophobic sentiment and laws in France): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106441489097/hello-first-of-all-i-wanted-to-thank-you-for-all

Muslim Woman and Non-Muslim Man Relationship: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/106012101432/google-only-gives-me-islamphobic-answers-when-i

Muslim Pakistani-American Woman and ESL: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/105626540245/pakistani-american-and-esl

Gay Muslim Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/105194780612/hi-there-so-my-main-character-is-muslim-and-gay

Headscarves With No Religious Significance: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/103329046487/headscarves-with-no-religious-significance

Speaking Arabic and English: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/102731441673/esl-speaking-arabic-and-english

Indicating Muslim or Jewish Characters (Advice on “coding” your religious characters): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/102650448564/indicating-muslim-and-or-jewish-characters

Arabia-Inspired Fantasy: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/101126591465/writing-an-arab-inspired-fantasy

Female Muslim Scientist Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100332593723/female-muslim-scientist-characters

How Does a Hijab Work?: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100258713669/the-workings-of-hijabs

BONUS! Follow-up Part I: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100248585186/muslim-characteristics-and-the-purpose-of-the

BONUS! Follow-up Part II: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100351197938/muslim-characteristics-and-the-hijab-commentary

Islam & Alcohol: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100193047899/islam-alcohol

BONUS! Follow-up: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100252265706/islam-alcohol

Remarriage in Islam: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/100095329304/remarriage-in-islam

POC Profile: Muslim Pakistani London-er: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/98342412513/muslim-pakistani-london-er

Tokenized Muslim Character: http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/97410784764/hey-so-youve-often-mentioned-that-if-a-character

Arab Stereotypes (The Myth of Arab = Muslim): http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/95149270852/arabian-stereotypes

[legacypodcast-blog]

Good reference!

can someone explain the alignment chart for me but in like, the simplest wording possible lmao

[legacypodcast-blog]

☾ planetary space ace moodboard ☽