Dunsink Lane, Dublin 15, D15 XR2R dunsink@dias.ie

Meteor Images

Did you see a meteor, or something unusual in the sky? Check if we also picked it up on camera from Dunsink using the image browser below. Each image is a long-exposure (about 10-20 seconds) view of the sky.

We have two cameras connected to this interface, both at Dunsink Observatory. One is pointed to the West and the other is an all-sky camera which covers the whole night sky but only catches the brightest meteors.

 

Information about using the interface

  • When you search for a time, use your local time, not UTC. The cameras are switched off during the day, coming back on at twilight.
  • Some images are labelled as meteors, aircraft, etc., and you can select only images with a certain label. Note, however, that this is an imperfect process and not all meteors are labelled as meteors. A good way to find interesting images is to select by “popularity” at least 1.
  • Filter by camera: choose whether to show images from both cameras or just one.
  • Popularity: any image that the meteor-detection algorithm thinks is interesting is given +1 popularity. Any image that has been “starred” by a website visitor also gets +1 popularity. A higher popularity number is a good way to find the best images.
  • If you click on an image thumbnail, a full-size PNG will open in a new tab. The filename contains the date and time in format YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS, plus some other info. Here the time is in UTC.

This browse/search interface was developed by Nicholas Pochinkov during a Summer Internship in 2020, funded through the Royal Society Public Engagement Fund.