A Little More Than Expected

Earlier forecasts for Tuesday afternoon, October 20, 2015 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa called for "light showers possible." A little more than that occurred. Fast moving, but prolonged thundershowers/thunderstorms dropped around a half inch of rain in some places and was accompanied by high winds and vivid lightning shows. Hastily revised forecasts even called for "pea size" hail possibilities, but none were encountered here. The unexpected weather system provided much needed moisture for the area, which was under a fire hazard advisory the previous day due to very dry conditions and wind. This image, a two-photo stitch, looks northwest toward Bowman Woods Park around 6:30 pm CDT. Air temperature was 60 degrees F. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Morning Roll Call

Rising before dawn on Saturday mornings isn't necessarily common practice for most folks, but the clear skies and a rare celestial conjunction made it more than worth the while on October 10, 2015.
Lining up in an arc from ground up were four planets and a thin crescent moon. Both these images look east from White Road, about a half-mile east of North Alburnett Road, and about three miles north of Marion, Iowa. A family dog from a nearby farmstead did not care for my presence and barked into the darkness nearly the entire time I was there. The above image, shot at 6:15 am CDT, is a 3-second exposure at f/5.6, 500 ISO and 22mm focal length.

This image, captured five minutes later, is a closeup view of the lineup, which includes from bottom left to top right: the planet Mercury (magnitude 0.54), the moon, Jupiter (-1.74), Mars (1.76) and Venus (-4.47). It is a 4-second exposure at f/8, 1600 ISO and 35mm focal length. A chilly air temperature of 41 degees F made for numb fingers! Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Dome Cap

Stratus clouds squeeze the sky ceiling down to mountain tops as seen from the observation tower at Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the afternoon of Thursday, September 17, 2015. In the views looking southwest above, the elevated walkway leading to the observation tower can be seen in the foreground. The top image was captured at 2:53 pm EDT, and the image directly above earlier at 2:34 pm.

This view, looking toward the northeast, shows the approach to the observation tower platform which affords a 360-degree vista of Appalachian Mountains. 2:56 pm. Half of the platform is claimed by the state of Tennessee and the other half by North Carolina. Altitude at the platform in 6,675 feet. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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In Proper Alignment

Clear and cool conditions (44 degrees F) provided for excellent viewing of three planets and a bright star which formed an arc alignment in the east sky on the morning of Thursday, October 1, 2015. Location here was Progress Drive in Hiawatha, Iowa. The glittering celestial objects, suspended above the growing glow of dawn at 6:13 am CDT are, from bottom-to-top: Jupiter (-1.72 magnitude), Mars (1.77), Regulus (in Leo, 1.34), Venus (-4.52). Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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West Sky, Best Sky- At Least At This Moment

The east sky on the evening of Sunday, September 27, 2015 featured a rising supermoon and later a total lunar eclipse, but the west sky was wowing viewers as well. All three of the images seen on this post were captured from the grounds at Echo Hill Presbyterian Church in Marion, Iowa. The above image shows Canada geese in flight in their characteristic "V" formation, heading west at 7:07 pm CDT.

This image captures the sunset with the church's silhouette in the foreground. 7:17 pm.

Seven minutes later crepuscular rays add to the beauty of the sunset. Actual sunset time was 6:55 pm. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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Super Moon, Super Eclipse

Most of the day on Sunday, September 27, 2015 was cloudy, with only intermittent breaks. But as luck would have it on the big supermoon/eclipse day in Eastern Iowa, the cloud cover dissipated just in time! The image above looks east toward a farmstead just west of Lyons Drive in Marion, Iowa at 7:04 pm CDT. The full moon was closest to earth on this day for all of 2015.

The above image is an eclipse sequence. Time for each separate image is from left: 7:53 pm,
8:09 pm, 8:22 pm, 8:30 pm, 8:35 pm, 8:41 pm, 8:51 pm, 9:47 pm.

This capture is a close-up of the eclipsed image at far right above. It is a 2 second exposure at f/13, 3200 ISO and 200mm focal length. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. The "blood moon" gets its appearance because the sun's light leaks around the edge of the Earth and passes through its atmosphere during the eclipse. The moon was in the Earth's "umbra"shadow for one hour and 22 minutes, making it a true total lunar eclipse. The next supermoon eclipse won't occur until 2033!

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Milky and Smoky

A recent vacation which included east Tennessee produced these three images during a a clear night in the Chilhowee foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, about 15 miles southeast of Knoxville. The two Milky Way images above, both shot around 9:19 pm EDT, are 20-second exposures at f/3.5, 2500 ISO and 18mm focal length. The house seen in the foreground was "light painted" with a flashlight for about a second or so. Both images look southwest.

This starry sky scene was captured nearby around 9:00 pm EDT, looks east, and is a 30-second exposure. Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

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