Day Two Of Historic Cold

Cedar Rapids, Iowa was part of the historic two-day cold blast that affected most of the midsection of the United States from January 30-31, 2019. My home weather station recorded a low temperature of -27 degrees F (above) at 6:15 am CST, Thursday, January 31. This broke the record low for the day and came just 2 degrees of equaling the all-time low for the city!

Have a seat? Not recommended. This image of our lawn chairs was converted to black-and-white via the Nik Collection Silver Efex Pro 2 Photoshop plug-in. Air temperature was -26 degrees F at time of capture.

8:34 am. The air temperature had risen to a balmy -18 degrees F. This image looks SE from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa toward cirrocumulus undulatus clouds partially covering the sun. By 10:00 am the temperature had further increased to -13 degrees F, and light snow began to fall. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Hasty Image Capture Of Sun

Historic cold in the entire Midwest caused many cancellations--including my work place. Although I was disappointed by the lack of a vibrant, well-defined sun dog on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, 2019, this image sufficed. I didn't spend much time with the photo opportunity, though, as the air temperature was -22 degrees F, with a -50 degree windchill! This two-stitch image panorama looks southeast from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 8:34 am CST. It is a 1/800 second exposure at f/16, ISO 200 and 18mm focal length. (I tested the boiling water thrown into the air and freezing exercise, and it worked...) Where are you spring?

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Omen Of What's To Come?

A frigid harbinger of the future? With forecast predictions of bone-chilling temperatures of as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit for the area in the following one-to-two days, this parhelia (better known as a sun dog), hangs ominously low in the southeastern sky on the morning of Tuesday, January 29, 2019. Air temperature was one degree above zero. Image is an iPhone 6-Plus capture from Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa at 8:59 am CST. Atmospheric phenomenon of this kind are caused by the refraction of sunlight by hexagonal ice crystal columns aloft, oriented at right angles to the sun.

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Two Frosties and a Freezie

The planets Venus and Jupiter, plus the giant red star Antares, glittered in clear cold air in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the morning of Saturday, January 26, 2019. It was definitely not a celestial viewing moment for the timid as air temperature was a frigid -16 degrees F! Above, the trio are seen in the southeast sky from the border of Bowman Woods Park at 5:34 am CST. Image is a 15 second exposure at f/4.2, ISO 200 and 31mm focal length.

Another image captured from a nearby location at 5:39 am. 8 second exposure at f/6.3, ISO 200, 42mm focal length. Venus shown at magnitude -4.29, Jupiter at -1.85 and Antares at 1.03. Above Antares is the 2.87 magnitude star Al Niyat, below is the 2.81 magnitude star Tau Scorpii, both companions with Antares in the constellation Scorpius. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Local weather conditions around the same time.

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Brilliant Winter Morning Sky

Sunrise at 7:33 am CST, Sunday, January 20, 2019. Looking east from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. The sky looked hot, but the temperature wasn't--1 degree above zero F. The panoramic image above was imaged at 1/125 second, f/5.6, ISO 200 and 18mm focal length, and the image below at 1/200 second at f/7.1, ISO 200 and 29mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Strains From Winter Storm Harper

This image, looking north from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 8:01 pm CST, Friday, January 18, 2019, shows Winter Storm Harper in full bore. A recent forecast for this area had predicted 5-10 inches of snow, but instead the location got around four. Image capture is a 5 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 200 and 18mm focal length.

8:06 pm. Looking north. Snow falling and wind blowing (directly into the camera). In the background is Boyson Road. Five second exposure at f/13, ISO 200, 18mm focal length.

8:08 pm. Looking the opposite direction from my position in the park. An inquisitive group of deer keep an eye on me as they move up the hill toward the right.

8:11 pm. Four-stitch panorama facing north. Each was a five second exposure at f/14, ISO 200 and 18mm focal length. Air temperature was 21 degrees F.

Aftermath of Harper the following morning and from the same perspective. 8:21 am CST, Saturday, January 19. Air temperature was 14 degrees F. Image is a 1/320 second exposure at f/9, ISO 200 and 18mm focal length.

Also 8:21 am. Looking east from the park at a sun pillar and shadows across the snow field.

8:23 am. Similar image of the sun pillar. Winter Storm Harper affected 32 states with heavy snow and ice. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Super Cold Super Eclipse Super Moon

Okay, I admit it. I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I had planned to drive outside the city limits to use other foreground elements for the upcoming total lunar eclipse on January 20-21, 2019. But with temperatures at zero degrees F and below on the day, I had no intention to venture out in those conditions. Instead, my more comfortable plan was to simply go out on our back deck and shoot the spectacle in thirty minute increments. In between, my camera and I would take refuge back in the warm indoors. Earlier weather forecasts weren't initially promising for the eclipse itself, but when the time came skies were either clear, or with high thin cirrus clouds which did not obscure the moon's disk.

For imaging, I shot at 300mm focal length and secured the manual focus with a strip of gaffer's tape, and of course used a tripod. Imaging information for each capture of the composite is shown below:

January 20-21, 2019 total lunar eclipse composite. Captured from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 300mm focal length. Left-to-right, from bottom: 7:35 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/20, ISO 400; 9:15 pm. 1 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/11, ISO 400; 9:44 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/11, ISO 400; 10:13 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 400; 10;41 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/25 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 2000, 11:12 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/5 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 2000; 11:42 pm. 0 degrees F. 1/5 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 2000; 12:12am. -4 degrees F. 1/640 second exposure at f/5.6, ISO 2000; 12:43am. -2 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/11, ISO 400; 1:11 am. -4 degrees F. 1/320 second exposure at f/16, ISO 400.

Maximum total eclipse occurred at 11:12 pm CST. Light reflected from the lunar surface is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere, giving it its distinctive "blood" red appearance.

Immediately following my last moon capture for the composite image, I noticed a subtle halo around the moon--then coming out of its eclipse phase. The halo is created by ice crystals at high altitude. Three fifth magnitude stars in the constellation Cancer can be clearly seen below and right of the moon in this image looking south at 1:16 am CST, Monday, January 21, 2019.

As the full moon was coming out of its eclipse phase it returned to its full bright glory. Note the stark shadows beneath the trees in this image looking south from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 1:21 pm. Air temperature at this time was -4 degrees F. Brrrrrrr!!! (I'll just stay inside...)
Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Early Risers

The moon and planets were early risers on Friday morning, January 4, 2019. This handheld capture looks southeast at 6:43 am CST from Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa. It is a 1/100 second exposure at f/4.2, ISO 10000 and 29mm focal length. The waning crescent moon can be seen just above the roofs at the lower left. Above and right of the moon is the -1.78 magnitude planet Jupiter. Below and right of Jupiter is the 1.03 magnitude star Antares. At upper right is the -4.45 magnitude planet Venus. Air temperature was 27 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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