Clear Sky Opportunity For Comet

Still dim enough not to know it's even there to the uninformed, the Comet Pan-STARRS nevertheless registers impressively when exposed several seconds on camera. The top image shows the comet over the entrance to Echo Hill Presbyterian Church just north of Marion, Iowa around 8:23 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The image is a 15-second exposure at f/5.6, 250 ISO and 62mm focal length. The bottom image shows the comet around 8:35 PM, six degrees above the horizon. The main image is a six second exposure at f/5.6, 1250 ISO and 102mm focal length; the inset was shot at 200mm focal length. C Avenue is in the foreground. All images look NW and show a steam plume from the Duane Arnold Energy Center at lower left. Air temperature was 25 degrees F in clear skies.

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Faint Comet Sets In Chilly Air

The faint Comet Pan-STARRS (magnitude 2.35) is shown only two degrees above the western horizon as it sets around 8:47 PM, Wednesday, March 20, 2013--the first day of spring. The comet still eluded me from seeing it with the naked eye. This image, shot as a 12-second exposure at f/4.5, 320 ISO and 18mm focal length, looks from the grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The houses are located on White Ivy Place (left) and 74th Street (right). Air temperature was a chilly 19 degrees F, with winds out of the NW at 15 mph.

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Ice Jam Frees

Unseasonably cold temperatures with heavy snowfall created a significant ice jam on the Cedar River in the downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa area in the early part of March, 2013. The ice jam was responsible for flooding along the river there, especially in the Ellis Park area. Temperatures in the upper 40s on Thursday, March 14 finally worked the ice jam free and the river again flowed unhindered through the city. The top image, shot around 4:15 PM, shows remnants of the ice field still hugging the west bank of the Cedar River in the foreground while the free-flowing river runs in the background. The bottom image shows the same situation as seen from the railroad bridge spanning the river to the Quaker Oats plant on the east bank.

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Pan-STARRS Almost Didn't Pan Out

I stood along this roadside about 3.5 miles north of Marion, Iowa for over an hour, waiting to catch a glimpse of the dim, but slowly brightening comet Pan-STARRS (C/2011 L4) on the evening of Wednesday, March 13, 2013. I took several shots and different exposure times in the general direction of the comet, but during this time I never actually glimpsed it with my naked eye (okay, I was wearing glasses). I was getting very cold standing in the 26 degree F air temperature and NW winds of 8 mph and was upset that I wasn't seeing anything. I finally gave up, thinking that the comet must by this time be too low in the sky, packed it up and headed home. To my surprise, the comet (center in image) registered by shooting time exposures. This image is a 4.7-second exposure at f/7.1, 320 ISO and 44mm focal length. It looks west from White Road, a half-mile between County Highway W58 (in the distance) and North Marion Road. The time was 8:00 PM CDT. The comet is about 5 degrees above the horizon. The small steam plume at lower left is emanating from the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, Iowa.

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Natural Spillway Created

Steady rain over slushy snow created this scene reminiscent of a spillway at Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 6:12 PM CDT on Sunday, March 10, 2013. At right is a baseball diamond. Temperatures had held steady throughout the day around 37 degrees F. A daily rainfall of .44 inches up to this point contributed to the ponding and flooding in the park. This image is a combination of two separate images and looks south.

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Long Plumage

A steam plume, in 21 degree F air temperature, emanates from the Duane Arnold Energy Center north of Palo, Iowa around 5:38 PM, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. The source of the plume is about 8 miles distant from this location at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. NW winds are carrying the plume downwind to a distance of about 4 miles. Note how winds at around 1,000 feet are flattening it. This view looks northwest.

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