Jupiter and Mercury Were Bashful, but Venus Wasn't

On an evening with the possibility of seeing five planets in alignment, plus the moon, I would only view two. Jupiter and Mercury were setting precariously close to horizon and still within the sun's glare, and unfortunately clouds along the horizon blocked their viewing. Mars was the other observable planet, near the moon, but it was high in the sky and out of the camera's viewfinder. Uranus can only been seen by the naked eye in very dark skies, and it was light enough in this setting that even the camera could not resolve it without resorting to very long exposures. That left Venus, front and center and blazing away at magnitude -4.02. In the image above Venus hangs over the afterglow of the day's sunset, seen at 8:07 pm CDT, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, from Lowe Park in Marion, Iowa. Metal effigy park sculptures can be seen in the foreground. 0.4 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 250, 11mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Aurora Finds Its Way South To Iowa

A strong geomagnetic storm on Thursday, March 23, 2023 stimulated Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights) throughout the state of Iowa and persisted into early the next morning. Spaceweather.com issued alerts to the probability well in advance of the event. In the Cedar Rapids metro area the question wasn't so much as to if it would occur, but would the sky be clear enough to witness it? Yes and no. The most intense period may have been around 10:45 pm CDT on March 23, as shown on the Aurora Alerts app image above, but skies in Cedar Rapids were mostly cloudy at that time. 

I was setting and resetting my cell phone alarm in hourly increments, starting about 9:00 pm, rising and going out on the back deck each time to observe the sky. Around midnight (March 24) the sky suddenly appeared mostly clear. I first photographed the north sky from nearby Bowman Woods Park (above), but this limited because of trees and too much light pollution. The aurora can be seen at lower left. Image captured at 12:17 am CDT, and is a 8 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 1000 and 11mm focal length.

My next move was to get in my vehicle and move to the intersection of North Marion Road and White Road (42° 6'59.60"N,  91°35'58.00"W), a favorite dark sky vantage point north of the city of Marion, 1.5 miles north of County Home Road (E34). There the bright horizon aurora was immediately evident. Unfortunately, by this time the geomagnetic activity was in decline and dimming by the minute. The image above looks north from that location on North Marion Road at 12:40 am CDT. It is a 5 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 11mm focal length.

Aurora alerts info for 12:43 am. Note the difference in intensity from this alert image to the one at top. 

Panorama image captured at 12:45 am. Image is a 5 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 11mm focal length. Lingering clouds can be seen at right. Air temperature was 27 degrees F.

12:49 am. 4 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 11mm focal length. I didn't get much sleep this night, but it was definitely worth it as this was the first aurora display I witnessed in the metro area since July 15, 2012. The (March 23-24) aurora event was classified as category "G4" (severe), and was witnessed as far south as New Mexico! Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Winter's Orion March-ing To Spring

One of the most dominant and recognizable constellations during the winter is Orion, the great hunter of ancient Greek mythology. The constellation features three prominent stars: Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Rigel, as well as the NGC1976 Nebula in Orion's sword. Orion is always followed by his faithful hunting dog, the constellation Canis Major, which contains the night sky's brightest star, Sirius. Orion continues to stand out well in March's southern skies, but begins to dip lower on the horizon and into the growing glare of the sun before disappearing in April. Above, Orion is seen looking southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 8:17 pm CDT, Monday, March 20, 2023, the first day of spring. At lower left is the -1.47 magnitude star Sirius. The bright object at upper left is the 0.37 magnitude star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor. Image is a one second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2000 and 14mm focal length.

Closeup of Sirius (lower left) and Orion at 8:18 pm. Orion's belt and sword are easily recognizable. 0.6 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 14mm focal length. 

The -4.01 magnitude planet Venus was not to be left out of the sky show this evening. It is seen here setting in the west from Bowman Woods Park. 0.6 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 14mm focal length. Air temperature was 45 degrees F. Vernal Equinox (first day of Spring) arrived at 4:24 pm.

Speaking of spring, purple and yellow crocuses poke up here from the formerly snow-covered ground of our backyard on Tuesday afternoon, March 21. The flowers made their first appearance the day before, right on the first day of spring. The crocuses appear randomly throughout the backyard each year. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Winter Not Done Yet

As has been the trend the past several months of March in Eastern Iowa, winter has been reluctant to move on. Snow is falling in the image above, captured at 7:06 pm CST, Saturday, March 11, 2023, looking west over Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids would receive about 1.5 inches of snow by the time the event ended the following day.

Panoramic image of a large line of clouds, the last remnant of the snow system as it moves east. Image looks east from the Bowman Meadows housing development in Marion, Iowa at 10:56 am CDT, March 12, 2023. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Radar image corresponding to the panorama image above it. Target icon locates the camera, with the green signatures at right indicating the clouds. The line of clouds stretched from northern Illinois well into Wisconsin, some 140-160 miles distant.

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Joshua Tree and the Mohave Yielded Good Photography Results

A recent vacation to Joshua Tree National Park, the Mohave Desert and the Palm Springs area of California provided for some good sky and weather photography opportunities. The panoramic sunset above looks west at 5:25 pm PST on Monday, February 13, 2023 from Kelso-Dunes Road at Kelbaker Road in the Mohave National Preserve.

6:29 am PST, Tuesday, February 14. Sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park.

6:33 am. February 14. The sunrise from a nearby location.

6:42 am. February 14. Sunrise panorama from Joshua Tree National Park.

7:08 am. February 14. Sunrise from Cholla Cactus Gardens in Joshua Tree.

9:00 am PST. February 14. Clouds paint a butte with shadows in Joshua Tree.

9:09 am. Rainbow formed from the line of rain clouds rolling over the background mountains in Joshua Tree.

12:42 pm PST. Tuesday, February 14. Driving into and through a sand squall while northbound on North Indian Canyon Drive near Palm Springs. iPhone 11 video frame captures.

Mount San Jacinto (10,834 feet) is shown spectacularly shrouded in clouds as seen from Dillon Road near Desert Hot Springs, California at 3:07 pm PST, February 14. High winds have also kicked up sand at the base of the mountain.

This is what Mt. San Jacinto looks like on a clear day (following day, February 15).

6:11 am PST, February 15. Sunrise from Joshua Tree National Park.

6:31 am. February 15. Panoramic sunrise view from Keys View overlook in Joshua Tree. Weather conditions here were bitterly cold: temperatures in the lower 20s, with wind chills at or below zero.

6:31 am. February 15. Continuation of panorama toward the south. Mt. San Jacinto can be seen at right center, and the distant 11,503-foot Mount San Gorgonio at far right.

Smaller panorama of same scene.

6:52 am. February 15. Sunrise at Joshua Tree.

10:31 pm PST. February 15. Night panorama from Keys View overlook (5,185 feet), showing Mt. San Jacinto with the lights of Palm Springs, Palm Desert and other towns along its base. Red tinted area at lower right is reflected light from my headlamp. 8 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 1250, 11mm focal length.

7:43 am PST. Friday, February 17. Sunrise above the Bullion Mountains along North Amboy Road in the eastern Mohave Desert.

7:47 am. February 17. Stratus overcast skies seen while northbound on North Amboy Road in the Mohave Desert.

7:49 am. Looking east along North Amboy Road in the Mohave Desert.

8:39 am PST. February 17. Cirriform clouds shroud the sky behind Amboy Crater. The dormant/extinct volcano is located just south of the old Route 66 in California, and rises 250 feet above the Mohave Desert floor. The volcano is thought to have last erupted some 10,000 years ago.

10:15 am. Sun halo behind Amboy Crater. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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Gettin' Together

The planets Jupiter and Venus were on a celestial rendezvous during the final evenings of February and those of early March, 2023. The close proximity to one another is known as a "conjunction." The planets glittered in the western sky after sunset. Jupiter is above Venus in this view from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 6:39 pm CST on Saturday, February 25. Jupiter shone at magnitude -2.09, and Venus at -3.96. Image is a 3 second exposure at f/5, ISO 160, 35mm focal length.

Same view and location the following evening (February 26). Jupiter and Venus have inched closer in this capture at 6:37 pm. Contrails stretch across the sky. 2 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 160 and 34mm focal length. The sky clouded up a short time later, and remained that way until the evening of March 1.

6:27 pm CST, Wednesday, March 1. Looking west from Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids. The planets are side-by-side and within one degree of each other, with Jupiter at the left. Jupiter shone at magnitude -2.08, Venus at -3.97. Image is a 1/4 second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 26mm focal length. Note the line of clouds at lower right.

Pictured here are the line of clouds approaching from the northwest. In about 15-20 minutes this cloud cover would arrive and obscure any further viewing for the evening.

6:38 pm CST, Thursday, March 2. Back to original location at Bowman Woods Park, and on a spectacularly clear evening. Now Venus occupied the upper position in the conjunction. Jupiter shone at magnitude -2.08, Venus at -3.97. Air temperature was 33 degrees F. Although Jupiter and Venus appeared very close to each other in our skies, the planets were in reality 6 billion miles apart. 0.5 second exposure at f/4.5, ISO 320, 34mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

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