Dark Skies In Iowa Derecho Aftermath

The epic derecho storm event that blasted a large swath of destruction across the state of Iowa on Monday, August 10, 2020, took out electrical power throughout the Cedar Rapids/Marion/Hiawatha metro area. After the storm had passed and the shock of the aftermath had somewhat subsided, I realized there might be one small "silver lining" to all the chaos: dark skies in our backyard. I had never really ever seen the Milky Way overhead in the 15 years I've lived here, and it was amazing to see it so clear and vivid. Above is an east-viewing panorama of the Milky Way blended with a wide-angle shot of the foreground. The sky, captured at 10:15 pm CDT, Monday, August 10, 2020 and includes the planets Saturn and Jupiter at right, is a 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 5000 and 13mm focal length. The foreground, shot at 10:47 pm, is a 25 second exposure at f/3.5, ISO 4000 and 13mm focal length. Clouds are seen above the trees at right.

10:15 pm. Milky Way panorama. Saturn shown at magnitude 0.19, Jupiter at -2.67. The brighter star at right center is the 0.75 magnitude Altair in the constellation Aquilla.

This image looks northeast over our roof toward the Milky Way at 11:24 pm. Included in the image is a meteor streak, seen one night before the Perseids Meteor Shower peak. Just visible above the lower tree limb at bottom center is the 4.5 magnitude galaxy Andromeda. 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 4000, 13mm focal length. The dark sky opportunity lasted a total of one night. Our power was thankfully restored during the late afternoon hours of the following day. Modern conveniences back, old-time night sky viewing gone. Many others in the city continue to have no power. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Comparison of Day/Night Band imagery from the Suomi NPP/VIIRS satellite. (KCRG/ Imagery: NASA Worldview/Suomi NPP/VIIRS). Note the absence of light through the central strip of the state of Iowa in the right panel.