[HN Gopher] Set up a Raspberry Pi meteor detector
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Set up a Raspberry Pi meteor detector
Author : jstanley
Score : 113 points
Date : 2020-12-20 14:33 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.skyatnightmagazine.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.skyatnightmagazine.com)
| Zenst wrote:
| I'd be inclined to get a POE hub/switch cheap (30$ branded,
| unbranded and talking sub $10) and the adapter for the Rpi and
| run them both over that.
|
| Not sure how the cost balances for this and maybe a bit more
| going that option, but if you add a single other POE device, it
| would definitely pay off cheaper and certainly more flexible
| cable wise on Ethernet and as such power.
| giantg2 wrote:
| That's the same type of setup that is common for security
| cameras using PoE. It seems to work well. Depending on how
| resource intensive the video analysis is, you could have
| several cameras being analyzed by a single mini computer (Atom
| based $100). That might be slightly cheaper than a single Pi
| per camera.
|
| Also, where are you finding those PoE switches?! I was looking
| for 8 port ones just a few months ago and they were about $50
| for cheap ones and at least $80 for brand names.
| Something1234 wrote:
| I would very much like to know too. I would love to get some
| PoE equipment.
| giantg2 wrote:
| Amazon Warehouse was the best deal I found a few months
| ago.
| Zenst wrote:
| I just did a quick look upon Amazon. Was looking at 5 port
| ones so maybe sweet spot price wise. Had quick look at 8 port
| ones and branded would be around prices you have - though
| Netgear seemed closer to 50 price wise. Do note many 8 port
| models only do POE over half the ports I've noticed, so
| mindful of that and two 4/5 port affairs maybe better price
| in some situations.
|
| Though if you're in no rush, January is sure to have some
| good sales/warehouse return deals. Though if you want to go
| offbrand and 10/100 do you then "Cudy FS1010P 8+2-Port
| 100Mbps Ethernet PoE+ Unmanaged Plug and Play Switch, 120 W,
| 8 10/100Mbps PoE+ Ports" on Amazon will pull up a 40$ model
| as an example that seems like maybe worth checking into.
| cassianoleal wrote:
| Very cool!
|
| There is a typo in the title: metero for meteor.
| chefandy wrote:
| I racked by brain for a solid 10 seconds trying to remember
| what a metero was before I just clicked on the link.
|
| Ah! That makes more sense!
| jstanley wrote:
| Oops! Fixed, thanks.
| kapilkaisare wrote:
| I imagine this would capture meteor flares only in areas with
| minimal lighting. In urban (and surrounding) areas, the light
| pollution would render human (and I imagine, digital) eyes blind
| to the celestial tapestry.
|
| Are there cameras that can filter the light pollution out?
| jacksonkmarley wrote:
| If there aren't any bright objects in the direct field of view
| it should be possible to see flashes in the sky on a clear
| night.
| z3t4 wrote:
| Could possibly capture the ultra red (heat) range that are
| usually filtered out by normal cameras.
| dylan604 wrote:
| There are filters[0] you can add to lenses that will filter out
| certain types of lights. While it will never replace finding an
| actual dark sky location, it will slightly improve what can be
| imaged.
|
| [0]http://astronomyonline.info/best-light-pollution-filters/
| gregable wrote:
| I have wondered how possible it might be to set up a few such
| cameras in a region and use them to triangulate meteor landing
| sites, maybe go find them after? I don't know how precise you
| could get, but it feels like if you could get down to a football
| field or something, maybe you could find the recently fallen
| ones, at least the large ones.
| jstanley wrote:
| That is precisely the kind of work performed (in the open, all
| the data is public) by the Global Meteor Network:
| https://globalmeteornetwork.org/
|
| Unfortunately most meteors never land because they completely
| burn up in the atmosphere. From the reading I've done today, I
| think the ones you're after are called "meteor-dropping
| fireballs".
| DDR0 wrote:
| Technically, every server I run is an extremely localized meteor
| detector. The rate of false positives is horrendous, though...
| cozzyd wrote:
| I was kind of imagining this would use an sdr to look for meteor
| scatter from distant VHF transmitters
| (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_burst_communications)
| destitude wrote:
| Do you know if this would work over wifi assuming you power the
| Pi and camera via some other means?
| Roritharr wrote:
| I've always dreamed of capturing good footage of UFOs, fully
| knowing that they are with 99,99...% likelihood just fiction.
|
| The latest round of UFO buzz got me interested in how one would
| setup tracking network for UFOs, this might be an interesting
| starting point.
| KriiV wrote:
| "fully knowing that they are with 99,99...% likelihood just
| fiction."
|
| Given the size of the universe, and its age, I would take some
| time to consider that the possibility that there is not some
| sort of phenomenon like that would be 99,99....%.
| oyebenny wrote:
| I wish the author included a BOM with links to the parts needed.
| jstanley wrote:
| This is probably the document you seek:
| https://docs.google.com/document/d/18TT-Jm7z9kYskl5ua07jQWD9...
| destitude wrote:
| Where exactly to get the hardware such as the IMX291 camera
| module would be helpful.
| jstanley wrote:
| I've rooted around their build instructions and they suggest
| this Aliexpress listing:
| https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32984151266.html
|
| There is also a Croatian company "IstraStream" that will supply
| a ready-built system:
| https://globalmeteornetwork.org/?page_id=136
|
| There are a number of eBay listings for camera modules that
| contain an IMX291 sensor but they don't appear to be the same,
| and in particular don't appear to take power-over-ethernet. I
| don't know how easy it would be to integrate one of these, but
| they mostly ship from China anyway so there doesn't seem to be
| much advantage over the Aliexpress option.
|
| I also wonder how feasible it would be to use the default
| Raspberry Pi camera module. Probably the issue is that it is
| not sufficiently sensitive.
| jacksonkmarley wrote:
| From the picture it doesn't look like the camera module has
| an actual poe connector, they seem to be using a splitter
| cable.
| destitude wrote:
| Is there a way to get a map of what areas are currently covered
| by the global meteor network?
| jstanley wrote:
| I'm not sure where to get an up to date view but the slide at
| 5:45 in this video has a map:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAGq-XqD5Po&t=5m45s
| taf2 wrote:
| Wow if that is correct then we really are blind to incoming
| end the world meteors
| lanerobertlane wrote:
| This wouldn't generally help with that, as these record
| meteors that are passing through the atmosphere.
|
| Potentially Hazardous Objects have to be modelled from
| quite far away and have their courses plotted. Most PHOs
| would not show up on cameras such as this.
| jstanley wrote:
| And if they did, it would be too late!
| abdullahkhalids wrote:
| https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/list.htm...
| nottrobin wrote:
| "We all know about the big meteor showers such as the Geminids
| and Perseids"
|
| _Nods sagely_
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