Spanning the Globes

Scores of stars appear as bright trails above the abandoned and dilapidated former railroad trestle near Thomas Park in Marion, Iowa on the evening of Monday, April 9, 2012. The trestle, which spans both a nature trail and Indian Creek, once carried train traffic which included that to the town's downtown depot--about .6 miles to the east. Train service ended there in the early 1970s and the depot was demolished in the late 1980s. The star streaks are the product of 68 30-second exposures shot at f/7.1, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length, and "stacked" into a single image using StarStaX software. I "light painted" the bridge structure in a few of the exposures with my flashlight. Total exposure time was from 9:00-9:38 PM. I did feel a little "creepy" at this hour in the dark woods standing just a few feet off the trail which was still be used by some, but my photo session was thankfully uneventful! The bright trails just above the bridge approach at right center belong to the constellation Orion. The tree at far right appears blurred because of wind. (The trestle, owned by Canadian National Railway, was sold to the city of Marion about two weeks later to become a new bicycle trail.)