More January Winter Sky Splendors

The planets Venus and Saturn were doing a close dance around each other in the late January skies. In this view looking southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 7:17 pm CST on the evening of Sunday, January 26, 2025, the -4.54 magnitude planet Venus is above the 1.14 magnitude planet Saturn. Image is a 1.6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 400, 34mm focal length.

7:20 pm. Looking toward the southeast sky. The bright object at left is the -1.18 magnitude planet Mars. With Mars are the bright stars in the constellation Gemini--Castor (upper, magnitude 1.56) and Pollux (magnitude 1.15). The bright planet Jupiter is at upper right (magnitude -2.56). With Jupiter in the constellation Taurus is the 0.84 magnitude star Aldebaran. The lone bright star at lower center is Procyon (magnitude 0.37) in the constellation Canis Minor. 4 second exposure at f/4, ISO 400, 24mm focal length.

7:28 pm. A front and center look at the constellation Orion, looking southeast. The bright star at upper left is the 0.43 magnitude Betelgeuse, at center top is 1.62 magnitude Bellatrix, and at right center is 0.15 Rigel. The very bright star at lower left is -1.47 magnitude Sirius, the brightest star in our skies and situated in the constellation Canis Major. Air temperature was 18 degrees F. Nikon Z6ii camera.

Fast forward one day and a blazing sunset nearly eluded me because of its fast change in lighting. The spectacle was nearly gone when I captured this iPhone 11 camera image of it at 5:20 pm CST, Monday, January 27, 2025 from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church. Air temperature was 44 degrees F.

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Sunsets and Conjunctions

5:08 pm CST, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. Air was cold, sky was hot. Brilliant sunset looking southwest as seen from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. iPhone 11 camera.

5:46 pm CST, Saturday, January 18, 2025. The planets Saturn and Venus were in conjunction (top in image). This image looks southwest from the Klopfenstein Amphitheater in Lowe Park, north of Marion, Iowa and is a 0.6 second exposure at f/4, ISO 250 and 24mm focal length. Prolonged exposure in the 16 degree F temperature with sub-zero wind chills may have given my numb fingers a mild frostbite--at one point I could no longer press my Nikon Z6ii camera's buttons!

Close up of the 1.13 magnitude planet Saturn (left) and the -4.64 magnitude planet Venus.

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Planetary Parade

 

The evening on Monday, January 13, 2025 was clear and cold (15 degrees F), perfect for viewing the special planetary alignment visible that night. The following images were captured at 5:47 pm CST from the back grounds at Noelridge Christian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image above looks southwest (the fading sunset light is at lower right), with two of the planets at upper right. 1.12 magnitude Saturn is left of -4.39 magnitude Venus. The constellation Aquarius is at center.

View looking east. All images were 1 second exposures at f/4, ISO 400, 24mm focal length. In this image, the -1.38 magnitude planet Mars is just below and left of the full moon. The -2.66 magnitude planet Jupiter at visible at upper right. Right of Jupiter is the constellation Taurus, and below Taurus just above the tree line is the constellation Orion. 

An eight-image stitch creating a panorama of all celestial players. Left is east, center is south and right is west. I left my warm car running and hustled back to it when I was finished! Nikon Z6ii camera.

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