More Aurora Images From November 11 G4 Geomagnetic Storm

 

Posted here are additional aurora (Northern Lights) images captured on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 as seen from White Road at North Marion Road (42° 6'59.50"N,  91°35'58.06"W) about 3 miles north of Marion, Iowa. All Nikon Z6ii camera images were shot at f/4, ISO 2000 and 24mm focal length. The above image looks north at 7:38 pm CST and is a 1.6 second exposure.

7:41 pm. Looking northwest. 1.3 second exposure.

7:42 pm. Looking east. 1.3 second exposure. Green puffy cumulus-like aurora. The Pleiades star cluster and constellation Taurus can be seen in the sky.

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

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

7:52 pm. Looking west. 1.3 second exposure.

8:11 pm. Looking northeast. 1.3 second exposure. Pleiades and Taurus visible in sky right of aurora.

8:18 pm. Looking northwest. 1.3 second exposure.

8:24 pm. Looking northwest. 1 second exposure.

8:33 pm. Looking north. 3/5 second exposure.

8:43 pm. Looking northwest. 1 second exposure.

8:44 pm. Looking north. 1 second exposure.

9:00 pm. Looking east. 2 second exposure. Pleiades, Taurus and constellation Orion visible.

9:10 pm. Looking north. 3/5 second exposure.

9:12 pm. Looking high in northwest sky. 0.6 second exposure.

 

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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