Streaks of Light in Night Photography

[Domzh]

Found this on reddit

I cant mark the text so i took a screenshot.

My suggestion would be a bug or bird but its almost not visible in the zoomed out picture and im not sure if that would fit the bill.

It seems quite bright, could it be a reflection on the lens itself? The sharp irregular "movement pattern" kinda looks like i would believe a camera could move that is "fixed".

 

[Mendel]

Source:
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ufo/comments/1dtrup0/ufos_captured_in_ozarks_national_forest/

This past weekend (6/28-6/30) I went on a fishing trip with my dad and brother on the Jacks Fork River in Eminence, MO. The 30mile float required us to camp on the river for two nights. The first night I noticed no moon and little cloud cover in the sky so decided to bust out my Sony a7iii and take some Astrophotography photos. This was between 11:30p to ~12:00a facing due east. In one of the photos, I caught several objects that I can’t explain. This is not my first time taking Astrophotography photos. I’ve seen satellites, shooting stars, lightening bugs, and aircraft and all of those objects look nothing like what I’ve captured.
The photo you’re seeing was taken with a Sony a7iii equipped with a 23mm f/1.4 Sigma Art wide angle lens (f1.4, 30sec, ISO 400). The camera was on a sturdy tripod and there was no wind or moon that night.

1. In the center of the you’ll find the first object. I’ve included a zoomed in screenshot of the object in case Reddit suppresses the original image. It appears to move like a UAV / drone of some kind but seems to be an extremely high altitude and covers a vast distance in only 30 seconds.
2. The second object can be seen streaking in the upper left hand corner, this also looks nothing like any satellite / plane that would be moving through the sky. Appears to be moving very fast

3.The final object appears to be the same as the first object and can be seen in the lower right hand portion of the photo behind some cloud cover. I’ve also included a zoomed screenshot of that object as well.

Content from External Source

I'm pretty sure it's an insect flying through a lit volume of space in front of the camera, leaving its track on the long exposure.

 

[Mick West]

This ends in a bright spot that's elongated in the same direction as the stars, which means the bright spot is almost certainly a celestial object, like Jupiter.

Which then suggests the wobbly trail is camera motion. Too much for the dim stars to register, but the bright object leaves a trail.

 

[Mendel]

This ends in a bright spot that's elongated in the same direction as the stars, which means the bright spot is almost certainly a celestial object, like Jupiter.

Which then suggests the wobbly trail is camera motion. Too much for the dim stars to register, but the bright object leaves a trail.

I think the clincher is that the trail in the center and the trail in the lower right look similar. That strongly suggests camera motion.

 

[Domzh]

oh these are two different streaks? i figured it was the same. lol this 100% proves camera movement

 

[Domzh]

if this is true, then thats a bit concerning, no..?

 

[Mick West]

I think the clincher is that the trail in the center and the trail in the lower right look similar. That strongly suggests camera motion.

Not a perfect match, but that's probably due to lens distortion.

 

[JMartJr]

I almost think I am seeing possible segments of similar tracks to the right of or just above the red lines I've added.


Wish we had a better version of the pic... the fainter stuff may have left fainter trails that we could see with a little levels adjustment...

oh these are two different streaks?

Are they? If so, I'd expect the vertical bit to be duplicated, too.

 

[Ann K]

The camera was not steady at the very beginning, because all the stars have a little "foot" on them as the camera jogged a little to the right. After that they all show a constant motion upwards as the stars rose in the sky. It may have been a sturdy tripod and a windless night, but might camera movement be caused by something as simple as a person walking on the ground near the tripod?

The trail in the middle, however, appears to me to be all one connected trail, most likely a single meandering insect. Any chance there are lightning bugs active in the area?

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

This ends in a bright spot that's elongated in the same direction as the stars, which means the bright spot is almost certainly a celestial object, like Jupiter.

Which then suggests the wobbly trail is camera motion. Too much for the dim stars to register, but the bright object leaves a trail.

That was my immediate thought, also. It would take just one small bump against the tripod/camera. Perhaps even a footstep?

Scenario:

Initial Bump: The camera is struck, causing an initial displacement.
Immediate Response: The camera quickly moves in one direction. The streak begins because of oscillation of the tripod/camera.
Oscillation: The tripod/camera oscillation causes loops and curves.
Settling Down: The oscillations decrease in amplitude, leading to smaller loops. Brighter segments in the streak represent slower movement.
Final Position: The camera comes to rest, completing the streak.

Green Arrow: Direction camera moved due to bump.
Red Arrow: The spot to where the image of the astronomical body was carried within the frame. Inverse direction.


The bump did not leave a streak, because the movement was too fast. The streak is entirely due to oscillations. The streak begins at the top, and ends at the bright spot. The bright spot represents the position of the astronomical body in frame after and before the bump.

 

[Domzh]

The trail in the middle, however, appears to me to be all one connected trail, most likely a single meandering insect. Any chance there are lightning bugs active in the area?

its the same pattern as the other streak. its movement most certainly.

found another example:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4108826

Link opens a photography forum discussion about a similar effect.

Please see the attached image. You have multiple stars the show the same shape weird trail.

The colored arrows point to the same spot along the trail for several stars. The red arrows a bright part of the vertical trail, and green a horizontal part. The only way to make that happen is to move the camera. The multiple same track shape is definitive.

 

[Mendel]

Case closed successfully.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

its the same pattern as the other streak. its movement most certainly.

found another example:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4108826

Link opens a photography forum discussion about a similar effect.

The link doesn't work...

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

What caused the L shape of the time lapse streaks in general? Related to but not the same thing that caused the wobbly streak.

The oscillations caused the wobbly streak. After the bump, and after the oscillations died down, the position of the camera was a bit different. So the streaks due to the motion of the stars through the sky/Earth's rotation were offset. Two different, offset streaks, really.

So don't try to match up the shape of the wobbly streak with the shape of the time lapse streaks.