Happy Trails

This image of star trails in the western sky includes the brilliant planets Jupiter and Venus at center. The image is a stacked collection of 77 30-second exposures, taken from 9:40-10:24 PM on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. Created using StarStaX software. The houses in the foreground are located on White Ivy Place in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as seen from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church. Each 30 second exposure was shot at f/7.1, 200 ISO and 32mm focal length. The horizon glow at left is the result of lights from the neighboring city of Hiawatha. The planets Jupiter (left bright streak) and Venus were within three degrees of each other in our skies. A temperature of 60 degrees F with a light wind made for good photography at this hour!