Eclipse Teaser

Anxiety on my part grew as to whether the partial solar eclipse of Thursday, October 23, 2014 would be visible before sunset with cloudy conditions prevailing most of the day. Clearing began along the western horizon as seen here from Marion, Iowa before 6:00 PM CDT. A hint of the possibility of viewing the eclipse occurred above when the sun momentarily appeared through a small opening in the clouds at 5:53 PM. Ten minutes later the sun dipped below the clouds and showed the eclipse in all its glory!

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Sun Block

Weather reports for the week of October 19-25, 2014 in Eastern Iowa called for mostly fair skies--except for Thursday, October 23. That day called for rain, and of course that was the day that the partial solar eclipse would be visible across most of North America. Two bands of rain showers moved through the state during the morning hours, leaving overcast skies in its wake. Prospects suddenly improved, however, as the western and central parts began to clear. The clearing moved east, but the big question and anticipation was whether it would get here in time before sunset. Sunset was 6:12 PM CDT. A clear band approached along the western horizon before 6:00 PM and just after 6:00 the partially eclipsed sun dipped below the line of clouds, finally revealing itself! The images above look west toward Cedar Rapids from near the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church near the intersection of East Robins Road and Alburnett Road in Marion, Iowa. The top two images were captured at 6:08 PM. The bottom image is a sequential view of the setting sun, from 6:02-6:09 PM.

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Less Than Desirable Timing For October Lunar Eclipse

The timing of this lunar eclipse did not fit well into my morning schedule as did the previous eclipse last April. The lunar eclipse of Wednesday, October 8, 2014 began around 4:00 AM CDT and achieved totality just after 5:00 AM. This conflicted with my getting ready for and going to work. Indeed, I had a lovely copper-colored, fully eclipsed moon to view through my windshield on the way to work. The image above is a combination of the foreground, a 1.3-second exposure at f/4.5, 2000 ISO and 18mm focal length, captured at 4:27 AM, and the moon (itself a combination of two images) shot at 4:54 AM. This image looks west from White Road, just west of North Marion Road, about four miles north of Marion, Iowa.

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