Moosehead meteor visible on web camera

Today’s camera technology is pretty amazing. You can strap a small, tough camera to your head and capture images of your up-close experience with a shark. You can tie a camera to a tree and take photos or video of every critter that walks by. Or you can tune in on any of a number of web camera sites and see what’s happening in your favorites spots on earth.

Want to see what the weather is at Mount Rushmore? You can do it. Want to watch the traffic roll by in Times Square? There’s a cam for that. Or do you just want to look at video of Bourbon Street in New Orleans while you sit at your own kitchen table and eat your gumbo? You’re just a click away.

Fortunately, you can also use technology to “visit” some of your favorite spots in Maine. And you might be amazed by what you see.

On Friday, we received an email from Michael McCormack, who owns and operates a web camera that looks down upon Moosehead Lake.

McCormack shared an image that his camera captured on Thursday.

Michael McCormack captured this web camera image of what he says is a meteor streaking over Moosehead Lake on Thursday night. Go to his website at mooseheadlake.us. (Photo courtesy of Michael McCormack)

Michael McCormack captured this web camera image of what he says is a meteor streaking over Moosehead Lake on Thursday night. Go to his website at mooseheadlake.us. (Photo courtesy of Michael McCormack)

“I have [the camera] set to long exposure at night and we are watching for Aurora which is supposed to be strong over the next few days,” McCormack wrote. “We didn’t see Aurora last night but we did see a meteor streak over the lake.  That image is attached.  The meteor streak is in the upper right.

“I own the website [mooseheadlake.us] and operate the camera and write the software to operate it for long exposures.  Premium Choice Broadband (Bangor) is the wireless provider and provides us a location for mounting the camera high above Moosehead Lake,” he concluded.

While I’m not a meteor expert, the image that McCormack shared is pretty stunning … though I’ll admit I spent as much time admiring the lake as I did looking at the sky.

And if you thought that image is cool, be sure to visit his website and check out the real-time images of Moosehead Lake and the time-lapse video from the previous day.

So tell us: Do you have a favorite Maine web camera? Send us a link and we’ll pass it along to our readers.

 

John Holyoke

About John Holyoke

John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. Today, he's the Outdoors editor for the BDN, a job that allows him to meet up with Maine outdoors enthusiasts in their natural habitat. The stories he gathers provide fodder for his columns, and this blog.