Early Winter Sunset

Aircraft contrails crisscross the horizon at sunset as seen from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 4:30PM, Tuesday, December 28, 2010. This view looks southwest.

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Flocked By Frost Fog

A tree, backlit by a street light on Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, illuminates the frost fog accumulated on it around 6:45 AM, Monday, December 27, 2010. The frosty coating rendered all exposed surfaces Monday morning into a veritable fantasy land. Temperatures at this time hovered around 9 degrees F.

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Nighttime Contrail

An aircraft path and its contrail (left) glows ghostly in the eastern sky of Marion, Iowa around 6:30 PM, December 22, 2010. A couple minutes earlier a faint meteor left a barely visible contrail in the same part of the sky. The reason for the illuminated contrails in this dark sky was the fact that a nearly full moon was just minutes away from peeking over the northeast horizon. The foreground is a former soybean field in the process of conversion to a housing development. The contrail at left is in the constellation Gemini. Low on the horizon at center is Orion and above Orion is Taurus. This is a 28-second exposure at f/5, 18mm focal length and 400 ISO.

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Brightly Shone The Moon That Night Though The Frost Was Cruel...

Merry Christmas!

The moon was indeed bright as it rose in clear skies Wednesday evening around 6:55 PM, December 22, 2010, and conditions were definitely frosty as the temperatures were in the mid-20s F. This view of the moon, a little over a day removed from being full, looks northeast from a former soybean field that is currently in transition to a new housing development just south of Boyson Road near Alburnett Road in Marion, Iowa. The "hill" in the foreground is dirt in the process of being graded for future construction. The moon is flanked by two lesser stars in the constellation Gemini at top. I needed to trudge through snow some 100 yards or more off Boyson Road to escape the interference of car headlights. This is a composite image with the moon being shot separately at 1/2000 second at f/5.6 with automatic focusing. The background was a 13-second exposure at f/7.1, manual focusing, focal length of 92mm and an ISO rating of 400.

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Proud Papa!

Our son Ryan Alliss, a meteorology major at Iowa State University, conducted his senior thesis presentation at Agronomy Hall on the campus of ISU on Monday morning, December 6, 2010. The presentation was part of the 18th Annual Iowa State University Atmospheric Science Undergraduate Research Symposium. Ryan is shown in the larger photo explaining his research of CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy)--a meteorological term for energy that is released when water condenses--to professors, peers and family members in attendance. His thesis was titled Quasi-Linear Convective System Mesovorticies, and counted for about 10% of his total meteorology grade. Less than two weeks later he received his Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology during graduation ceremonies (inset photo) at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa on Friday evening, December 17. Congratulations, Ryan! We are all very proud of you!

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Winter Solstice Sky

Clouds had prohibited a view of the lunar eclipse over Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 2:00 AM on this day, December 21, 2010, but this striking view of altocumulus undulatus clouds reflected by the setting sun around 4:12 PM sparkled the southwest sky as seen from Bowman Woods Park. The view was brief as skies became overcast minutes later. The winter solstice arrived shortly afterward at 5:38 PM CST. Air temperature was 25 degrees F.

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Winter Moon Sky

A waxing gibbous moon moves

in and out of a thin veil of

clouds in a winter sky around

4:50 PM, Thursday, December

16, 2010. This image, taken

from Brentwood Drive NE in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, looks

northeast.

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Frigid Geminids

Braving the intense cold and a sleepy early morning rising, I captured these two meteor streaks, part of the Geminid meteor shower which peaked on Tuesday, December 14, 2010. This view looks SW over Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a composite image, with the upper meteor streak and the background shot at 4:25 AM and the lower meteor streak shot at 4:45 AM. The streaks are passing through the constellation Taurus (right, lower) after emanating from the radiant point in Gemini (upper, center). The bright star between the trees at lower left is Betelgeuse in Orion, and the bright star at upper right is Capella in Auriga. The air temperature during this photo session was -3 degrees F. Less than two hours later, the sky clouded over. This was a 21 second exposure at f/3.5, focal length of 18mm and an ISO rating of 1250.

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Solitary Stand In Snow

A solitary tree stands in an open space against snowfall from a flat gray sky near a nature trail at Boyson Park in Marion, Iowa near its border with Cedar Rapids. The snow event preceded by about eight hours a blizzard that eventually added another 1.5-2 inches of snow and was accompanied by high wind and low temperatures.

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Prelude To A Blizzard

Light snow was falling along the nature trail near Boyson Park in Marion, Iowa around 1:20 PM, Saturday, December 11, 2010. More snow and high winds from the back side of a large low pressure system arrived overnight, dropping an additional 1.5-2 inches of snow and packing 30-40 mph winds in the Cedar Rapids/Marion area, prompting cancellations and postponements. This view looks east.

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Illumination From Above And Below

There was illumination in the sky

and on the ground Wednesday

evening around 5:15 PM, December

8, 2010 as a waxing crescent moon

shone over a row of houses decked

out with Christmas lights along

Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids,

Iowa. The setting moon is shown here

in the southwest sky. This capture

was shot at 1/6 second at f/5.3, 40mm

focal length and an ISO of 1600.

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Blocking My View Of Mercury

Low level clouds fan out over a snowy landscape near Marion, Iowa around 4:35 PM, Tuesday, December 7, 2010. Leading off into the background at right is East Robins Road. The clouds prevented a desired view of the planet Mercury, low on the SW horizon, at sunset. This photo, looking west, was taken near the Christ Community United Methodist Church on Alburnett Road in Marion. The air temperature was 15 degrees F.

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Enter The Winter Sky

Denuded trees form dark silhouettes in front of a winter sky Monday afternoon around 1:10 PM on December 6, 2010 at White Oak Cemetery in Central Iowa. The location is about 1.5 miles east of Interstate 35 and 3 miles northwest of Elkhart, Iowa. Weather conditions on this day produced intermittent snow flurries. The unincorporated town of White Oak is renowned for its winery and vineyards.

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Brilliant Venus Competes With The Moon

A waning crescent moon and the planet Venus (top) rise in the morning sky at 6:25 AM on Friday, December 3, 2010. Venus was just one day away from its greatest visual magnitude (-4.9) since February, 2006, but the clouds and snow that moved into the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area later on this day would prevent any Saturday morning viewing. This image was captured with a 1.3-second exposure at f/8, an ISO rating of 1000 and a focal length of 48mm. The air temperature at this time was 14 degrees F.

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Geese Sunset

I was hoping to view Mercury and Mars through the clouds at sunset on Thursday, December 2, 2010. I never caught the planets but captured this flock of Canada geese flying past in V-formation. Yes, the geese are heading north, not south. The sun is setting here at 4:30 PM behind Newcastle Road in Marion, Iowa.

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Contrail Sunrise

The morning sky was loaded with aircraft contrails on Sunday, November 28, 2010. The three contrails at left center are diffuse--the usual result of higher humidity aloft. Persistent contrails are mainly composed of water naturally present along the aircraft flight path. This view looks southeast as seen from Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 7:45 AM.

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Hunting By Moonlight

A waning moon, two days removed from full, shines in the eastern sky through cirrus clouds left of the constellation Orion--the great hunter in Greek mythology. The bright star at top right is Aldebaran in Taurus. At lower left partially obscured by the tree top are the stars Castor (upper) and Pollux-- the twins--in Gemini. The main image in this composite shot was a 13-second exposure at f/8 with an ISO rating of 1000. This photo was captured from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 10:35 PM on Tuesday, November 23, 2010.

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Over The Rainbow...And The Roof

A rainbow stretches over a roof and weather station following a light rain shower just after 6:30 PM on Friday, August 21, 2009. This view, taken from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, looks northeast.

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By The Light Of The Crescent Moon

A waxing crescent moon sets in the southwest sky over a tree line containing a nature trail near Boyson Park in Marion, Iowa. At center bottom is a beacon-topped power line tower located along the trail. Note the earthshine on the moon's dark area. This image was captured around 8:15 PM on Monday, October 11, 2010. It is a 1.3-second exposure at f/4.5 with an ISO rating of 640.

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Oblivious To The Buildup

Westbound traffic on Collins Road NE near the intersection of C Avenue in Cedar Rapids, Iowa seem unaware of the presence of the mushrooming cumulonimbus cloud behind them around 5:40 PM on Monday, July 7, 2008. The storm cell was very isolated and very concentrated. The intersection in this image is located near the Rockwell-Collins facilities complex, toward the left. I took this photo from my driver's side window.

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Foggy Morning

Fog shrouds this scene looking west into Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 6:20 AM on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. The fog had formed from a relatively clear sky only in the last two hours or so. Temperatures at this time were around 28 degrees F. This was an eight-second exposure at f/8 with an ISO rating of 500.

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Marching Into Winter

The constellation Orion (right center) dominates the early morning sky at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as the season of winter quickly approaches. In Greek mythology, the great hunter Orion's prey is Taurus the bull (upper right), and he is followed by his dogs (one of which contains the bright star Sirius at left center). The sky at this moment held a thin veil of haze, and indeed within the hour heavy ground fog began to develop in the 30-degree air. This photo, looking southwest, was captured around 3:55 AM, Tuesday, November 16, 2010. It is a 30-second exposure at f/3.5, a focal length of 18mm and an ISO rating of 500.

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English Lane Moon

Not as in Great Britain. This nearly-full moon is shown rising over neighborhood homes at English Lane NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 8:20 PM on Monday, August 23, 2010. In the background at left is the water tower located near the Granite Valley Apartments near Boyson Road and C Avenue NE and the Century Communications LLC tower. The foreground of this composite image was shot at 1/6 second at f/10 with an ISO of 400.

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Flood Wood

Workers on Wednesday, June 12, 2008 gather brush and debris in heavy rain from the swollen Dry Run Creek along the south side of Boyson Road, just east of Brentwood Drive NE at the border of Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa. The flood conditions here were part of the same weather conditions that inundated downtown Cedar Rapids for the next three days. This view looks west on Boyson Road. The water came close, but did not wash over the road.

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Halloween Sky For Halloween Morning

The rising sun colorizes this altocumulus undulatus formation with orange around 7:35 AM on Sunday, October 31, 2010. The brilliant colorization was short-lived however, as overcast skies quickly reclaimed the sight. This capture looks east over Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Tamer Storm Cousin

Clouds roll in from the west in this five-second exposure (f/6.3, ISO of 200) at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 12:20 AM on June 18, 2010. This narrow storm front was the trailing southern extension of a larger and much more powerful system that produced some 82 tornadoes, four of which were rated at EF4, in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota the previous evening (June 17). The swiftly approaching storm in this photo produced nothing more than some brief heavy rain and wind.

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After The 'Witching Hour' Sky On Halloween

Stars in the northeastern sky stand out with stark clarity in this 40-second exposure taken around 12:35 AM on Sunday, October 31, 2010. At left center is the constellation Auriga. The Pleiades star cluster is at upper right. A portion of the constellation Gemini is seen just above the roofline at left. The bright star at right center is Aldebaran in Taurus. The bright star immediately right of the main structure of the weather station at bottom is Betelgeuse in Orion. This photo, shot at f/4.5 with an ISO of 400, looks over Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Parallel Contrails

No, this was not the aftermath of a formation of U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, but it was the result of five or six high-altitude aircraft paths occurring close to one another from the perspective of the camera. This shot of the north sky was taken from the grounds of Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 10:45 AM on Sunday, November 7, 2010. Contrails are formed from a combination of water vapor in aircraft engine exhaust and air temperatures below -40 degrees F, typically above 26,000 feet.

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Outshining The Light Pollution

This five-minute exposure of the comet Hale-Bopp in the northwest sky at 8:25 PM on March 30, 1997 shows that it nearly outshines the artificial light emanating from a parking lot out of the picture at left. This photo was captured from the grounds of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hale-Bopp is flanked in the sky by the constellations Perseus (left) and Cassiopeia (right). The faint fuzzy blob just above the smallish Y-shaped tree at right center and at the comet's 5 O'clock position is M31--the Andromeda galaxy. Hale-Bopp shone at a bright apparent magnitude of -1.79 on this night.

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Chance Encounter

The western flank of the powerful storm system that produced an EF5 tornado in Parkersburg, Iowa an hour and a half earlier is spread out on the southern horizon along US Highway 218 just south of the US Highway 18 interchange and northwest of Charles City, Iowa. Photo was captured around 6:30 PM, May 25, 2008. The encounter with the back end of this system was not a product of a storm chase but a return from a fishing trip in northeast Minnesota.

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Crescent Moon In Dawn's Early Light

A thin waning crescent moon with a hint of earthshine rises in the eastern sky just ahead of the sun around 7:20 AM on Thursday, November 4, 2010. This capture was made from Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa.

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Not A Forest Fire

It may look as if a forest fire is raging out of control behind this line of trees. In reality, the scene was merely a large bank of clouds moving swiftly away from the camera toward the southeast. The three-second exposure at f/3.5 with an ISO of 500 created a pastel colorization of the clouds, a reflection of nearby parking lot lights at Bowman Woods Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In less than a half hour, all clouds were gone. Peeking through the partial clearing at upper left are dimmer stars and the bright planet Jupiter. This image was captured around 10:35 PM on Wednesday, November 3, 2010.

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Hartley Debris Field Spectacle

The Comet Hartley 2 (103P) was not itself visible without a telescope on Wednesday night, November 3, 2010, but some of its effects were. This 23-second exposure captured the streak of a meteor (left) in the western sky--part of the comet's debris field which passed over the Earth from November 2-3. The radiant point for this two-night activity was the constellation Cygnus, seen pointing upward at lower left. Cygnus' brightest star, the 1.25 magnitude Deneb, is located just above and right of the meteor streak. The meteor was traveling right-to-left from the camera's perspective. The brownish smudges at right are small drifting clouds moving into the field of view. Clouds had nearly covered the entire sky just a little over a half an hour earlier but moved out quickly. This image was taken from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 11:05 PM. Shot at f/3.5, 18mm focal length, and an ISO rating of 500.

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Halo Morning

A halo rings the rising sun as seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 8:40 AM on Saturday, October 30, 2010. From the camera's perspective, the new aircraft contrail at left center appears to be climbing vertically, but in reality it was on its way west--directly overhead and beyond. Note how the sky, covered in cirrus clouds and crisscrossed with other contrails, has the appearance of a hanging bed sheet rippling in the wind.

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Billowing Beauties

Cumulus clouds exhibit vertical growth as they approach Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids around 5:25 PM on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. The clouds were part of an unusual summer-like line of thunderstorms which moved in a northeasterly direction and nearly stretched diagonally across the state of Iowa. Temperatures were in the low 80s at the time of this capture. This view looks west over Bowman Woods Elementary School.

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Hartley A Speck

Actually, I meant "hardly a speck"-- The Comet 103P/Hartley 2 continues to elude the spectacular and remain barely visible to the observer using binoculars or a tripod-mounted camera. This 30-second exposure at f/3.5 with an ISO rating of 500 barely detects the comet's light (inside small circle at center) in the east sky just before 3:00 AM on Monday, November 1, 2010. Hartley 2 was positioned on this night just below and right of the constellation Gemini and left of Orion. The bright star below Hartley and near the bottom is Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor. The fuzzy blob just above the right corner of the yellow box at bottom left is M44--the Beehive Cluster. This photo was shot looking over Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Churning Clouds After Volatile Day

Churning storm clouds pass overhead in this view looking southeast from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 12:25 AM on June 18, 2010. This line of storms was a southern extension of a system that produced a very large tornado outbreak in southern Minnesota (around the Albert Lea area) hours earlier. The clouds are illuminated by the ambient light below. This capture was a 10-second exposure at f/6.3, 18mm focal length and an ISO rating of 200.

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Moon Math

Aircraft contrails form an isosceles triangle amid cirrus clouds and near a half-moon in the southwest sky as seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This shot was taken around 8:40 AM on Saturday, October 30, 2010. The moon was in its waning stage.

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Forked Lightning

Cloud-to-cloud (CTC) lightning that has the appearance of retracing its path at upper left continues outward ending in many forks around 8:55 PM on Monday, September 6, 2010. The approaching thunderstorm (SW sky, directly ahead) was only minutes away. Note the small black cloud between the camera and the lightning bolt at top center. The building below is one of several units for Colton Circle Condominiums in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The tower in the background, owned by Century Communications LLC, appears to have been nearly struck by the bolt but in reality it was much closer to the observer than the lightning. This was a 10-second exposure at f/10, focal length of 18mm and an ISO of 200.

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Constellations On Parade

Several constellations appear on parade as they wheel across the northeast sky on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. At far left with bright star Capella is the constellation Auriga. Above and to the right of Auriga is Perseus. The two bright stars at upper right are part of Aries and the group of stars at far right make up part of Pisces. The tight cluster of stars at lower center is the Pleiades and the large bright spot behind the tree still bearing its leaves at lower left is a rising waning gibbous moon. The vividly recognizable Pleiades (Seven Sisters) was mentioned in Chinese literature around 2350 BC. It was also mentioned in the Bible three times and in Homer's Odyssey (circa 800 BC). This image was shot from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a 30-second exposure at f/4, 18mm focal length and 400 ISO.

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Parking Not Advised

Rising flood waters on the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa had nearly reached the lowest ramp level at the First Street Parkade (right) when this photo was taken just after noon on Wednesday, June 11, 2008. The Third Avenue bridge, where this photo was taken from, was closed less than an hour later. The Second Avenue bridge and City Hall are seen in the immediate background. Floods devastated much of the downtown area including the parkade. In September, 2010, plans by the city to demolish the parkade (citing high repair costs and structural obsolescence) were put on hold as FEMA and the State Historical Society concluded the parkade was eligible for a listing on the National Register of Historical Places.

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Moon 'n' Meteorology

A full moon shines through a small opening in the clouds at 9:20 PM on Friday, October 22, 2010. A formerly clear sky this night had only just been transformed to cloud cover. Standing out ghostly below the moon is a roof-mounted weather station. A flash provided its visual effect. The brightness of the moon was strong enough to still shine through much of the veil of clouds. This composite view looks east over Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Summer In Autumn

A cumulonimbus cloud billows from behind trees that have already dropped most of their leaves around 5:30 PM on Tuesday, October 12, 2010. The approaching thundershower, fueled by a cold front overrunning low-80-degree temperatures, created high winds, rain and some lightning. The radar signature of a long diagonal line of storms moving across the state of Iowa--of which this was a part--appeared very much summer-like. This view looks northwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids.

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Ray Gun

Rays shoot upward from a setting sun through altocumulus clouds around 5:45 PM on Friday, October 22, 2010. This view looks southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The temperatures were warm at the time of this capture--in the middle 60s.

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"X" Marks The Spot

Crossing aircraft contrails form a huge "X" (lower right center) in a brilliant sunrise around 7:20 AM on Thursday, October 21, 2010. This capture was made from Progress Drive near the intersection of Marthas Way in Hiawatha, Iowa.

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Cul-de-sac Comet

A testament to Hale-Bopp being one of the brightest comets of the 20th century, the icy object shines brightly in the northwest sky despite the camera's close proximity to ambient street light pollution on Inwood Court NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Hale-Bopp was shining at a robust -1.79 apparent magnitude when this five-minute exposure was taken just before 7:30 PM on Sunday, March 30, 1997. The comet was located within the constellation Andromeda during this time. Cassiopeia is to the upper right. The faint fuzzy blob nearly between the roof peak at left and the chimney at center is M31, the Andromeda galaxy.

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Ripple Effect

Three groupings of Cirrocumulus undulatus clouds appear to be stacked on top of each other in the northeast sky around 5:20 PM on October 19, 2010. This capture was made from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The characteristic ripples of undulatus are formed by atmospheric waves generated by wind shear. The clouds, existing above 16,500 feet, occur when a large area of moist air reaches saturation and forms ice crystals with instability. Also a result of ice crystals in the opposite direction of the sky at this same moment was a sun halo.

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Comet, No...Meteor, Yes!

Attempting to locate, let alone clearly photograph Comet Hartley 2 (formally designated as Comet 103P/Hartley), in the northeast sky on the night of Tuesday, October 19, 2010, I shot this 30-second exposure in the direction of its charted position. 30 seconds produced only a vague and extremely faint spot (yellow arrow), but during the exposure, an unexpected meteor (red arrow) streaked from near the comet's origin point over my head. From the camera's perspective, the meteor travels upward in the photograph. The meteor was part of the Orionid shower, two days ahead of its peak time. Some websites declared that Comet Hartley 2 would be visible to the naked eye on October 20, but even a close scrutinization of the area with binoculars produced nothing obvious to me. Clouds and a three-quarter moon were also a constant interference. The bright star at center is the 0.06 magnitude Capella, in the constellation Auriga. The meteor streak appears to nearly bisect Capella in its flight. Shot at 10:50 PM at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (f/3.8, 500 ISO, 22mm focal length).

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Autumn Aura

A southwest view from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa produced this nice sun halo and aircraft contrail sight at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. Sun haloes are caused by refracted light passing through ice crystals in cirriform clouds that lie between the observer and the light source. Less common are moon haloes.

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Midnight Mover

A squall line approaches the observer just before midnight on June 25, 2010 at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This 12-second exposure looks northwest toward 74th Street NE. The capture was shot at f/6.3 with an ISO rating of 200.

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