West Sky, Best Sky- At Least At This Moment

The east sky on the evening of Sunday, September 27, 2015 featured a rising supermoon and later a total lunar eclipse, but the west sky was wowing viewers as well. All three of the images seen on this post were captured from the grounds at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa. The above image shows Canada geese in flight in their characteristic "V" formation, heading west at 7:07 pm CDT.

This image captures the sunset with the church's silhouette in the foreground. 7:17 pm.

Seven minutes later crepuscular rays add to the beauty of the sunset. Actual sunset time was 6:55 pm. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Super Moon, Super Eclipse

Most of the day on Sunday, September 27, 2015 was cloudy, with only intermittent breaks. But as luck would have it on the big supermoon/eclipse day in Eastern Iowa, the cloud cover dissipated just in time! The image above looks east toward a farmstead just west of Lyons Drive in Marion, Iowa at 7:04 pm CDT. The full moon was closest to earth on this day for all of 2015.

The above image is an eclipse sequence. Time for each separate image is from left: 7:53 pm,
8:09 pm, 8:22 pm, 8:30 pm, 8:35 pm, 8:41 pm, 8:51 pm, 9:47 pm.

This capture is a close-up of the eclipsed image at far right above. It is a 2 second exposure at f/13, 3200 ISO and 200mm focal length. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. The "blood moon" gets its appearance because the sun's light leaks around the edge of the Earth and passes through its atmosphere during the eclipse. The moon was in the Earth's "umbra"shadow for one hour and 22 minutes, making it a true total lunar eclipse. The next supermoon eclipse won't occur until 2033!

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Milky and Smoky

A recent vacation which included east Tennessee produced these three images during a a clear night in the Chilhowee foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, about 15 miles southeast of Knoxville. The two Milky Way images above, both shot around 9:19 pm EDT, are 20-second exposures at f/3.5, 2500 ISO and 18mm focal length. The house seen in the foreground was "light painted" with a flashlight for about a second or so. Both images look southwest.

This starry sky scene was captured nearby around 9:00 pm EDT, looks east, and is a 30-second exposure. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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