Veterans Day Aurora Display

 

Almost as if to honor our veterans on Veterans Day evening, November 11, 2025, the skies were alight from a dazzling aurora (Northern Lights) display, generated from a severe G4 X5.1-class solar flare and a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME). The populace was put on alert a day or two before its arrival, and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) issued a geomagnetic storm watch in the hours before the event. Checking my Aurora Alerts app on my phone just before 7:00 pm, I could see it was time to head out with my camera and tripod (and warm clothing, for temps were in the lower 40s F). I selected one of my favorite locations for spotting (White Road at North Marion Road-- 42° 6'59.80"N,  91°35'57.94"W-- about 2.5 miles north of Marion, Iowa and looking away from city lights). The image above, captured at 7:35 pm CST, looks north and is a 1.6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 2000, 24mm focal length, and shows the geomagnetic storm already well under way. All other photos this night were captured at f/4, ISO 2000 and 24mm focal length.

7:38 pm. Reds and greens of the display are very evident looking north.  1.6 second exposure.

7:41 pm. Looking northwest. Some of the detached aurora "puffs" resembled green cumulus clouds (the sky was clear as a bell). 1.3 second exposure. 

Aurora Alerts app for 7:41 pm showing the severe intensity aurora (red). 

7:45 pm. Looking north. 1.3 second exposure.

7:48 pm. Looking northwest. 1.3 second exposure.

8:19 pm. Looking northwest. 1 second exposure.

8:30 pm. Looking north. 1 second exposure.

8:30 pm. Looking north. Strong activity. This aurora includes a brief pinkish band. 1 second exposure.

8:33 pm Aurora Alerts image

. 

8:39 pm. Looking north. 1 second exposure.

8:41. Looking north. 1 second exposure. 

8:46 pm. Looking north (North Marion Road at center). 1.6 second exposure.

9:12 pm. Looking north. 0.6 second exposure.

9:13 pm. The aurora display was so vivid even my iPhone 11 camera picked it up (shown). This image looks straight up.

9:13 pm. Similar image to the one above it. At this stage the storm was very intense as the red streamers reached all the way up the zenith in the sky. Looking toward the northwest. 0.6 second exposure.

9:15 pm. Looking west. Some of the many motorists who came out to this area to view the show--and it started to bug me because of all the excess traffic coming and going and their bright headlights. The number of cars parked alongside the road reminded me of a storm chaser convergence. Normally this area never fields more than a few cars in a couple of hours time at night. 2.5 second exposure.

9:17 pm. Looking west. Greens and reds aloft. 2.5 second exposure.

9:18 pm. Similar image. 1.6 second exposure. 

9:19 pm. Looking north. 1.6 second exposure.

9:19 pm. Similar image. 1.6 second exposure.

9:25 pm. Looking north. 1.6 second exposure.

9:34 pm. Looking east. This image includes the constellations Taurus (upper right), and Orion (lower right). By this time the storm had begun to weaken some, losing its bright red colors, so it was time for me to head back home to process my aurora captures. A little chilled but non-the-less happy at having seen the show. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

Autumn Morning Moon

 

A recent full moon, now a waning gibbous, stood out in the bright blue of the sky and in the oranges and reds of autumn foliage at 7:29 am CST, Friday, November 7, 2025. This scene was captured looking west from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and is a 1/160 second exposure at f/10, ISO 100 and 70mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

Active Autumn Sky

"Mare's Tails" cirrus clouds streaked high over the autumn landscape seen here from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This image was captured at 11:20 am CST on Sunday, November 2, 2025 and looks southeast. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

A Difference Of Night and Day

 

The following two images were both captured from about the same position--Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Above is a brilliantly vivid sunrise scene at 7:08 am CDT, Sunday, October 12, 2025. Image is a 1/60 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 100, 24mm focal length. The old "red sky at morning, sailor take warning" saying held true here, as rain arrived later in the day. 

A trio of celestial objects, captured at 1:56 am CDT on Tuesday, October 14, 2025. Below in the image is a waning half-moon, above is the 1.15 magnitude star Pollux in the constellation Gemini, and at right is the -1.81 magnitude planet Jupiter. This is a composite image, with the moon being captured as a 1/250 second exposure at f/4, ISO 640, 55mm focal length; and Pollux & Jupiter a 1/13 exposure at f/4, ISO 640, 55mm focal length. Air temperature was 55 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

Autumn Stroll with Sky Scrolls

 

Autumn skies during a 4.8 mile walk on the Grant Wood Trail east of Waldo's Rock Park near Marion, Iowa during the afternoon of Saturday, October 11, 2025 did not disappoint--with harvested golden-brown farm fields below and wispy Cirrus Uncinus (Mare's Tails) clouds above. These four iPhone 11 camera images look north and northwest along the trail. "Mare's Tail" cirrus are formed by ice crystals at high altitudes, and are stretched and curled by high winds. These formations are often a sign of approaching precipitation, and this was the case here as rain arrived a little over 24 hours later.

Read more...

Additional Mount St. Helens Pics

A view of Mount St. Helens in Washington with swirling cirrus clouds overhead looking north from Highway NF-90 at 11:04 am PDT on Sunday, August 24, 2025. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Colorful pre-dawn skies while ascending through the first two miles of Mount St. Helens from the Climber's Bivouac trailhead at 6:00 am PDT, Monday, August 25, 2025. A very shrouded Mount Adams can be seen just above the tree line at center. At background left, the treeless upper slope of Mount St. Helens is seen. iPhone 11 camera.

Read more...

The Many Hats of Mount Rainier

 

Mount Rainier (elevation 14,411 feet) in Washington is so immense it often creates its own mini weather system, including clouds and precipitation. The following images of the (stratovolcano) mountain were taken during our recent vacation to the Cascades in Washington and Oregon. Above, Rainier sports a cap cloud as seen from the Suntop Lookout to its northeast on Tuesday, August 27, 2025. The cap cloud resembles a ring or aura, obscuring its summit. 

Similar closeup of the cap cloud, also captured from Suntop Lookout.

Mount Rainier, with its "head in the clouds," as seen from the Mount Fremont Lookout structure also on August 27, and also located northeast of the mountain. This is a common appearance of Mount Rainier.

Wednesday, August 28. Much less common appearance, and us being in the right place at the right time. A nearly cloud free moment at Reflection Lake in Mount Rainier National Park. 

August 28 Skyline Trail view of Rainier. Transient clouds resemble smoke blowing of summit. 

Skyline Trail. Summit obscured by a line of fast moving clouds. iPhone 11 camera.

Also Skyline Trail. Another moment of limited cloud cover. Of all mountains I have seen in my lifetime, Mount Rainier may be the most majestic. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Read more...

Autumnal Equinox Storm

 

Autumn arrived on Monday, September 22, 2025 and so did a line of storms in Eastern Iowa late that evening, originating from the north and west of the Waterloo area and moving southeast. The following seven photographic images were captured from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. Above, cloud-to-cloud lightning spreads under the approaching storm looking northwest at 8:04 pm CDT. Image is a 6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 400, 24mm focal length. 

8:09 pm Radarscope image. Storms near Waterloo and Guttenberg are severe warned. 

8:57 pm. Storms have now lost their severe warnings but are beginning to form a single linear structure.

9:10 pm. The shelf cloud characteristics of a linear storm is now evident in this image looking northwest. The illuminated areas are backlit flashes of cloud-to-cloud lightning. 5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length.

9:12 pm Radarscope capture.

9:14 pm. Looking northwest. Underside of storm looking more ominous now. 5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length.

9:17 pm. Similar capture. 5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length.

9:20 pm. Looking northwest. Rain shafts in the illuminated areas under the shelf as it approaches are seen. 5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length.

9:21 pm. Coalescing line of storms is now as close as 20 miles distant from my location. 

9:26 pm. Panorama image looking north (center), consisting of five separate exposures, each 5 seconds at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length. Heavy rain at center is evident.

9:27 pm. Zoom-in looking northwest, and the turbulent appearance of the incoming storm. 5 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250, 24mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.

9:35 pm. Radarscope image. Storm, in true linear mode, is now about 10 miles distant. The storm, under severe limits, would produce elevated winds, lightning and periods of heavy rain.

Read more...