Moon And Venus Field

A waxing crescent moon and the planet

Venus glow high in the western sky as

they begin to set around 6:24 PM, Saturday,

February 25, 2012. The glow from a sunset

which occurred 33 minutes before is still

evident in this picture. Out of the photo

at top left was the planet Jupiter, and

caught in the sun's glare at lower right

was the planet Mercury. Mercury would

reveal itself minutes later. The open field

seen in the foreground is located just

west of the grounds at Christ Community

United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa.

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Crowded Sky

The western sky was quite busy

around 6:28 PM, Saturday, February

25, 2012 as four celestial objects

were all setting together. At upper left

is the -2.19 magnitude planet Jupiter, at

center is the -10.63 magnitude waxing

crescent moon and the -4.19 magnitude

planet Venus and at lower right just

above right of the transmitter tower

is the -1.07 magnitude planet Mercury.

The image, shot at 1/20 second at f/3.5,

1600 ISO and 18mm focal length, was

photographed from just west of the

grounds at Christ Community United

Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa.

Sunset was 37 minutes earlier. Air

temperature was a chilly 22 degrees F.

Invisible here because of its dim 5.93

magnitude was the planet Uranus, located

at this time between Venus and Mercury.

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February Sunset

The sun sets above a unit of the Colton Square Condominiums just north of Boyson Road and C Avenue NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa around 4:53 PM, Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Official sunset time was 5:47 PM CST. This view looks west from the parking lot at Noelridge Christian Church on C Avenue. Occupying much of the sky is altocumulus undulatus clouds.

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Probable Polar Lights

Looking somewhat out of place and peculiar, I spied this band of light stretched out low on the northern horizon around 9:20 PM, Saturday, February 18, 2012. The band seemed to hold its position and shape unlike the isolated cirrus clouds that drifted straight over me. Had I photographed the Aurora Borealis--Northern Lights? After returning home and checking the auroral oval on spaceweather.com (which shows the current strength of magnetic storms hitting Earth's atmosphere) it seemed probable. The oval extended down into the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, giving credence to the identity of this image. The image is a 20 second exposure at f/4.5, 640 ISO, 18mm focal length. It was shot from just west of the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa. In the background just in front of the tree line is East Robins Road. The bright line at left was caused by aircraft lights.

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Field Stars

The previous day's posting was but one exposure of the 64 stacked images shown here. Each of the 64 exposures was shot at 30 seconds at f/4.5, 250 ISO and 18mm focal length. The open field in the foreground is located just west of the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa. Total exposure time was from 8:41-9:17 PM, Saturday, February 18, 2012. The bright streak at center in this view of the east sky is the planet Mars. The brownish smudge at right is clouds drifting into the frame. The photo stacking effect was created from StarStaX software.

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Meteor 'n' Mars

As luck would have it, a meteor appeared in the frame of one of 64 images I was taking to create a stacked star trail image. Also seen in this image looking east from just west of the grounds at Christ Community United Methodist Church in Marion, Iowa is the -1.00 magnitude planet Mars at center. Mars is the brightest object amid stars of the constellation Leo. Encroaching clouds are seen at right. The months of February and March are usual slow times for meteor activity with early morning times as the most favorable for viewing them, so this occurrence was very satisfying. This image was shot at 9:00 PM, Saturday, February 18, 2012. It is a 30-second exposure at f/4.5, 250 ISO, 18mm focal length.

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Fool's Gold Or Treasure?

I was busy photographing star trails a few miles from this location in Marion, Iowa when I noticed what appeared to be a large bank of clouds situated low across the northern horizon after 9:00 PM, Saturday, February 18, 2012. To be sure, some isolated cirrus clouds were passing overhead at this moment but the northern scene appeared far removed from the cirrus. I had been aware of aurora potential throughout the day so I relocated to a better vantage point about 2 miles to the west and took this image. The image looks north from Echo Hill Presbyterian Church along C Avenue. Upon returning home, I checked out spaceweather.com and noticed how far south the aurora oval was and soon viewed photos of Northern Lights displays from the neighboring states of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. I'm still not sure if these are indeed far off aurora, but the scene never seemed to vary or move as clouds would. This is a 25 second exposure shot at f/4.5, 640 ISO and 18mm focal length and photographed around 9:32 PM.

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