More Arizona Sky Pictures

More images from our recent Arizona vacation. The above image shows some impressive "Mare's Tail" (Cirrus) clouds above the Petrified Forest National Park south visitor center on Thursday, June 8, 2023.

Mare's Tail clouds behind petrified stumps at Petrified Forest National Park on June 8.

Sun halo/sun dog created from cirrus clouds while hiking to our backcountry campsite from the Painted Desert Inn (museum) in Petrified Forest National Park on the evening of June 8.

Milky Way, with galactic center at right, seen from our backcountry campsite at 11:49 pm, Thursday, June 8. Image is a 25 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 1600 and 11mm focal length.

Cirrus/altocirrus clouded sky, looking back from inside the Grand Canyon, while descending to the Colorado River along the South Kaibab Trail Saturday morning, June 10, 2023.

Alto cumulus clouds just before sunrise, seen while beginning the ascent from the Colorado River along the Bright Angel Trail on Sunday, June11. The "Silver Bridge" can be seen over the river at bottom center, the "Black Bridge" in the distant background.

Cumulous clouds in this panoramic view of the sky from a bend in the Bright Angel Trail during ascent to the South Rim on Sunday morning, June 11.

Cumulus clouded sky as seen from the Grand Canyon's south rim late Monday morning, June 12.

South Rim view just after noon on June 12. Rain clouds are forming at left.

Similar panoramic view. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Sunrise over the south rim as seen from Grand Canyon Village on Tuesday, June 13.

Sunrise casting long shadows from distant rock formations, as seen from the south rim on June 13. iPhone 11 camera.

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Fireworks Grand Finale Images

The image above is a sequence of video frame captures from the grand finale of an Independence Day fireworks display from rural Shueyville, Iowa in Johnson County on July 4, 2023. The grand finale of the display started around 11:20 pm CDT and lasted about a minute. The video was captured from beside a large pond, and the fireworks cast matching burst reflections in the water. 

Individual fireworks video frame capture. 

Still image from 9:55 pm. iPhone 11 camera.

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Smelly, Unhealthy, but Pretty

Wind-driven Canadian wildfires made for hazy daytime skies, noticeably smelly odors and unhealthy respiratory conditions for the state of Iowa during the week of June 25, 2023. The smell at one time reminded me of burning plastic. The "silver lining" to this was the enhanced sunrise and sunsets it produced. The above sunset image looks west from the HallMar Village on C Avenue north of Marion, Iowa at 8:21 pm CDT, Tuesday, June 27. Ground fog can also be seen. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

This image was captured earlier in the day at 3:00 pm, approaching downtown Cedar Rapids from the south. Note the hazy skyline in the distance. iPhone 11 camera.

 

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Severe Storm Stayed Out of Range

I have a general guideline not to venture further than 60 miles from home when I go solo storm spotting/chasing. At this limit on Saturday, June 24, 2023 was the Highway 92 (Ainsworth, Iowa) exit off US Highway 218 in Washington County. The severe-warned storm cell did not track north as expected from there, and I was forced to photograph it from a distance. The panoramic image above looks southwest from Yucca Avenue, one-tenth mile south of Highway 92, and about 1.8 mile east of Ainsworth. It was captured at 6:25 pm CDT. The most intense part of the storm was located about 37 miles distant, near the town of Birmingham in Van Buren County, Iowa. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Radarscope image of the storm cell, corresponding to the image above it, with my location shown at upper right. 

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Arizona Nights

 

A recent vacation with visits to iconic destinations as Petrified Forest National Park, Meteor Crater and The Grand Canyon in the state of Arizona provided stunning photo opportunities, especially at night. The above Milky Way image is a panorama looking east from our backcountry campsite, a little over a mile from the Painted Desert Inn museum at 12:00 am local time, Friday, June 9, 2023. Illumination of our tent was created using a headlamp. Distant horizon lights at left were from the town of Chambers, Arizona. Image is a 25 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2000, 11mm focal length.

12:03 am. Individual image from the same location. My wife sits on a rock with her headlamp illuminated outside our tent. The constellation Scorpius can be seen at right, just above the rocks. 15 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2000, 11mm focal length. We received a backcountry camping permit from the Petrified Forest National Park visitor center to camp here.

We received a lottery-style permit to backpack three days and two nights in The Grand Canyon. Our itinerary took us down the South Kaibab Trail to our first campsite (Bright Angel Campground) on the first day, to Havasupai Gardens (Indian Garden) Campground on the second day, and hike out of the canyon along the Bright Angel Trail on the third day. The image above looks northwest from our campsite at the Bright Angel Campground at 10:06 pm local time, Saturday, June 10, 2023, and is a 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 3200, 11mm focal length. At center is the constellation Ursa Major (Big Dipper). The bright star at upper left is Arcturus. The bright star at lower right is Polaris (North Star). Dark smudges between the Big Dipper and Polaris are clouds. 

11:22 pm, June 10. Looking south at Milky Way from our Bright Angel campsite. 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 4000, 11mm focal length. The walls of the canyon stand out as silhouettes. 

12:30 am local time, Monday, June 12, 2023. Looking south toward the Milky Way from our second day campsite at Havasupai Garden. The dark area at upper right is the edge of the roof of our picnic table shelter. Image is a 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 3200, 11mm focal length.

Milky Way panorama looking northeast, captured from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at 10:45 pm local time, Monday, June 12. At lower left is the Lookout Studio, at right is the Grand Canyon Village. 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 3200, 11mm focal length.

10:59 pm. Similar image looking east. 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 3200, 11mm focal length. The Milky Way's galactic center is seen at right.

11:01 pm. Looking north at star-spangled sky from the South Rim. Clouds are seen on the horizon. 20 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 4000, 11mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera. Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX II 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. K&F Concept KF-TM2324 tripod. An ultra-challenging, but ultra-rewarding experience!

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Pop Up Thundershowers, and They're Going the Wrong Way

Small pop-up thundershower cells began forming around the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area during the afternoon of Sunday, June 4, 2023. Above, one of those cells shows a robust updraft in the northeast sky as seen from Bowman Woods Park at 2:51 pm CDT.

2:58 pm. This panoramic scene looks west at a multi-cellular group of cells. Most storms move west-to-east in the northern hemisphere, but this area of storms was moving in a dominant and unusual east-to-west track.

3:01 pm. A gap in the clouds allowed the sun through, giving this image a "spotlight" effect from the heavens. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

 Radarscope image for 2:58 pm, showing the odd west-moving storm tracks.
 

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Another 2017 Badlands Celestial Conjunction Offering

My image of a line up of planets, the moon and a bright star from Badlands National Park in South Dakota on September 18, 2017 was probably the most well-received of any photo I've ever taken. I recently discovered a similar and unprocessed image from my Adobe Lightroom library, and it is posted here. The setup for this event was purely coincidental and lucky because the conjunction was unbeknownst to me. My wife and I were out in the remote and dark sky area of Door Trail to photograph the Milky Way in the other part of the sky (this was amazing too), setting up here about 3:00 am MDT. After capturing the Milky Way images we decided to stay and wait for the sunrise. As the sky brightened in the east, a beautiful array of celestial objects rose ahead of the sun. They were, in the image above, from bottom-to-top: planet Mercury, planet Mars, the Moon, star Regulus, planet Venus. Magnitudes for the objects were: Mercury (-0.92), Mars (1.82), the Moon (-9.10), Regulus (1.34), Venus (-3.94). This image, captured at 5:44 am, is a one second exposure at f/6.3, ISO 400, 38mm focal length. Shining faintly left and above of Venus were the stars Algieba (left) and Eta Leonis in the constellation Leo. Nikon D7200 camera.

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