Transmitter Trails

Warm southerly winds blow across the snowy field at the 600 WMT AM radio's transmitter facility located at 1837 Radio Road just northeast of Marion, Iowa as star trails wheel around Polaris, the North Star, Monday evening, January 30, 2012. This view of the north sky was taken from the facility's drive entrance about .3 mile east of Highway 13. The temperature at this hour was a mild 46 degrees F, down from an earlier day's record high of 56 degrees. This image was created by shooting 68 30-second exposures and "stacking" them into a single image using StarStaX software. Total exposure time was from 7:04-7:40 PM. Each separate exposure was shot at f/5.6, ISO 320 and 18mm focal length. Very apparent are the bright stars of the Big Dipper at far right. Also visible at top are a few faint aircraft paths.

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Wheeling 'round the Round Building

Stars wheel over a round farm structure located on Alburnett Road at 29th Avenue in Marion, Iowa from 8:00-8:15 PM, Saturday, January 28, 2012. This image looks south from the edge of the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church. The star trails were created shooting a stack of 30 30-second exposures at f/5.6, 250 ISO, 40mm focal length and converted to a single image using StarStaX software. I used a flashlight to "light paint" the round structure on the first exposure. The brighter streaks at upper left belong the lower part of the constellation Orion. Clouds began moving into this field of view around 8:15, preventing a longer set of exposures. Air temperature was 31 degrees F.

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Snow Vista

City lights in the direction of the city of Cedar Rapids stand out brightly against the snow and sky in this vista looking west from the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa. Clouds had just rolled in obscuring a previously clear sky. This image, shot around 8:15 PM, Saturday, January 28, 2012, is a seven second exposure at f/5.6, 250 ISO and 40mm focal length.

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Seconds or Thirds Anyone?

The moon and Venus, the second and third brightest objects in our sky, put on a show in the southwest around 6:00 PM, Thursday, January 26, 2012, as seen from the grounds at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa. The two celestial objects, shown here about 45 minutes after sunset, displayed themselves within 7 degrees of one another on this evening. Air temperature was a relatively mild 36 degrees F. In the background in front of the tree line is C Avenue, which connects with the city of Cedar Rapids toward the left. This image is a one-second exposure at f/8, 800 ISO, 18mm focal length.

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Celestial Collaboration

The planet Venus, shining at a brilliant magnitude of -4.07, collaborates within seven degrees of a waxing crescent moon in the southwest sky as seen from the grounds at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa around 6:12 PM, Thursday, January 26, 2012. C Avenue runs horizontally across the image just below the tree line in the background. Cloud cover that had dissipated over an hour before was beginning to return as evidenced by the clouds on the horizon. Despite the snow cover, air temperature at this hour was a relatively mild 36 degrees F. This photo is the product of a 4.5-second exposure at f/8, 800 ISO, 18mm focal length.

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Frozen Farm Field Star Trails

Star trails wheel over a rural landscape in this view looking north from Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa on the evening of Tuesday, January 17, 2012. The bright stars of The Big Dipper can clearly be seen at center. The thin swath of light along the horizon at center was caused by traffic along Echo Hill Road, about .7 mile away. This image is a combined stack of 11 two-minute exposures at f/3.5, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length, and was shot from 6:56-7:18 PM. The stacking effect was created from StarStaX software. It took a little fortitude creating this shot as I had to stand out in the open in 13 degree F temperatures accompanied with 10-20 mph winds (wind chill around -7 degrees)! The area at right with the grove of trees is a local farmstead.

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Snow Tree

This silhouetted tree stands out starkly against an overcast sky still producing light snow. The snowfall, tapering off at this moment, would accumulate to 5.5 inches in the area before it was done the following day. The image looks northwest from Boyson Park at the Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa border around 6:18 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2012. It is a two-second exposure at f/7.1, 640 ISO and 18mm focal length.

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The Old Oaken Observatory

Stars and the planet Jupiter shine through the silhouetted branches of an old oak tree in this view looking southwest from a woodsy area of Boyson Park at the Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa border around 8:30 PM, Friday, January 13, 2012. Jupiter is the bright object just right of the tree branch at center. This image was the result of a 50-second exposure at f/3.5, 1000 ISO and an 18mm focal length.

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Winter Sky Canopy

Star trails show through a canopy of tree branches in this view of the southeast sky as seen from Boyson Park at the Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa border. The image is a stacked set of three two-minute exposures at f/5.6, 200 ISO and 18mm focal length. Time during the session was from 8:22-8:28 PM, Friday, January 13, 2012. The bright streak at center is the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion. The lighter areas at bottom and at right is scattered cloud cover. Air temperature at this moment was 8 degrees F, influenced by a snow cover of over five inches.

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Zero-to-5.5 In 24 Hours

What a difference a day makes! This was the scene at Boyson Park at the border of Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa around 6:15 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2012. Just 24 hours earlier the ground was dry and temperatures in the area had just started to fall from a daytime high of 50 degrees F-- just three degrees short of a record high in Cedar Rapids. Over night a storm system moved in changing the climate in dramatic fashion. The system, though not terribly wide, was held in place and back-spun from low pressure located around Lake Michigan, causing higher amounts of snowfall to accumulate here. Cedar Rapids received an official 5.5 inches of snow, but accurate measurements were made difficult by the high winds which accompanied the storm. Temperatures at this moment were around 14 degrees F. This image looks south just south of the footbridge located near Boyson Road. Running through the center of the picture is Dry Run Creek. The photo is a one-second exposure at f/7.1, 640 ISO and 18mm focal length.

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Back To Normal

Okay, it had to happen sooner or later... The winter of 2011/2012 in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metro area was a rather benign one--no significant snowfall up to this point and unseasonably warm temperatures. Indeed, just the day before this photo was taken temperatures soared to a balmy 50 degrees F. Reality set in fast during the night of January 11/12, 2012 however, as about 5.5 inches of snow fell and temperatures dropped from a system that stretched from Oklahoma northeast into the upper peninsula of Michigan. The temperature at the time this photo was captured--around 6:20 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2012--was 14 degrees F. The image looks west as the snow was beginning to taper off, and some lingering light from behind the cloud cover is still evident. The location is at the Boyson Park footbridge over Dry Run Creek just south of Boyson Road at the Cedar Rapids/Marion border.

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Moonscape

The moon, just one day removed from full, rises in the northeast sky around 6:20 PM, Monday, January 9, 2012 as seen from the top of the sledding hill at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sledding was definitely not in the picture as temperatures were in the mid-40s at this hour and snow had not covered the ground in any significant amount at this point during the winter of 2011/2012. The radio transmitter towers in the distance at center are located at 1837 Radio Road, just east of Highway 13 in the neighboring town of Marion and are operated by WMT Radio. The towers are located about 4.5 miles from this position. The light streaks at bottom left was created from traffic along Boyson Road. The foreground portion of this composite image is a six-second exposure at f/7.1, 640 ISO and 44mm focal length. The moon was shot separately at 1/1000-second at f/7.1, 640 ISO and 200mm focal length.

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Cirrus Shoreline

Resembling waves splashing against a shoreline, cirrus fibratus clouds dominate the southern sky around 3:30 PM, Sunday, January 8, 2012. This image looks past Brentwood Drive in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the eastern border of Bowman Woods Park. Fibratus clouds exist at 16,500 feet or higher and form when there is moisture at high levels colder than freezing.

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Haloed-Heavens

The veil of cirrus clouds that created this halo of light around the moon lessened at this hour helping to produce the more defined optical phenomena seen here around 9:47 PM, Saturday, January 7, 2012. The moon was 62 degrees above the horizon at this point. About four hours earlier when it was only 23 degrees above the horizon it sported a similar halo, but within an hour heavier cirrus clouds obscured all but the moon's glow, eliminating the circle of light. The ice crystals that form haloes require temperatures of zero degrees F or lower. The crystal's angle of refraction is slightly greater for blue light than red light, which is why blue is seen on the outside of a halo and red on the inside. All ice was aloft as the ground was clear and dry, unusual for the first week of January in Iowa! This view looks southeast from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids. The image is a five-second exposure at f/7.1, 800 ISO and an 18mm focal length.

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Moon Ring

A haloed moon rises above roofs in the Brentwood Drive NE neighborhood area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 6:05 PM, Saturday, January 7, 2012. Haloes are caused by refracted light passing through ice crystals in cirriform clouds that lie between the observer and the light source. This optical phenomena was short-lived however. Within an hour a heavier veil of clouds obscured all but the bright disk of the moon. The moon was in its waxing gibbous phase, just two days from full. Air temperature was 33 degrees F at this moment. This image was captured as a three-second exposure at f/7.1, 2000 ISO, 18mm focal length.

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Ghostly Night Sky

High level cirrus clouds veil the waxing gibbous moon (left) and the planet Jupiter (at upper right) in this three-second exposure at f/16, 1600 ISO and 18mm focal length. The longer exposure created the "ray effect" around the moon, and blurred lunar features, so it was necessary to create a composite image. Jupiter shines through the cirrus veil at a magnitude of -2.53. The barely visible star below the moon is 0.84 magnitude Aldebaran, in the constellation Taurus. This image, looking southeast from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was shot around 5:45 PM, Thursday, January 5, 2012.

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Venus Halo

Despite being veiled by high level cirrus clouds, the planet Venus shines at an apparent magnitude of -4.00, creating a small halo as seen from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 5:45 PM, Thursday, January 5, 2012. Also seen left and above the planet are stars in the constellation Capricornus. Venus reaches a maximum magnitude of -4.6 as seen from Earth. This image looks southwest and was created with a 4 second exposure at f/6.3, 1600 ISO and a 40mm focal length. The temperature at this moment was a very balmy 53 degrees F--much more spring-like than the "dead" of winter! Indeed, much of Eastern Iowa saw record high temperatures on this day with Cedar Rapids topping out at 59 degrees, breaking the old mark of 54 degrees set in 1956. It was dry "heat" though, with very low humidity due to the prolonged lack of snow cover.

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Peace On Earth, Good View Toward Heaven

Two days after Christmas observers witnessed a waxing crescent moon paired with the planet Venus in the southwest sky. These celestial bodies are the second and third brightest objects in our skies. On this evening the moon shone at -10.49 magnitude while brilliant Venus glowed at -3.98 magnitude. The objects are shown over Hampshire Drive in Marion, Iowa, as seen from the grounds just west of Christ Community United Methodist Church around 5:13 PM, Tuesday, December 27, 2011. This image was a 1/4-second exposure at f/14, 800 ISO and 26mm focal length.

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