Christmastime Reflections

Light rain--not snow, was falling when these HDR (High Dynamic Range) images of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa as seen from nearby Cedar Lake were captured early in the morning of Saturday, December 16, 2023. The image above looks southwest at 4:18 am CST. It is a combination of 1.6, 1.3 and 1 second exposures at f/4, ISO 160 and 24mm focal length.

Zoomed-in version (45mm focal length) of the top image, using the same settings, captured at 4:21 am. Air temperature was 42 degrees F, preventing the possibility of a white Christmas to this point. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Near-Gem of a Geminids

 

The Geminids Meteor Shower, annually one of the year's best, did not disappoint on its peak night of December 13/14, 2023. Unlike most meteor showers which are generated from cometary debris, the Geminids comes from Asteroid 3200. I spent nearly an hour observing and photographing the event from about 2:00 am to 3:00 am December 14 from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The image above, captured at 2:06 am, looks southeast and is a 10 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 500, 35mm focal length.

This image is a composite photograph of five separate images, captured from 2:06 am-2:52 am, and with the same settings as the single image at top. The best meteor of the night unfortunately occurred outside my camera's view--very bright and with a well-defined round head. The night was chilly (22 degrees F, with 88% humidity). Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Starry Night, Few Meteors

With the peak night and clear skies for the annual Leonids Meteor Shower, I was expecting big things. Not so! In the nearly-two hours I was outside for the event, I saw only about 2-3 meteors, all dim and all out of my camera's eye. So instead, I captured areas of the night sky. All of these images were captured from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and are 10 second exposures at f/1/8, ISO 320 and 35mm focal length. The image above was captured at 12:27 am CST on Saturday, November 18, 2023, and looks east. The bright star in the upper right is the 0.37 magnitude Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor.

1:12 am. Looking southeast. Constellation Orion at top right. At middle is the -1.47 magnitude star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major.

1:23 am. Constellation Orion (hidden in a spangle of stars), looking southeast. The star Sirius is at lower left.

1:39 am. Looking southwest. At upper left is the constellation Taurus, right of Taurus is the star cluster Pleiades, and at lower right is the -2.87 magnitude planet Jupiter. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Lakeside Reflections

Shown above and below are autumn cloud formations reflecting in Lake Atwood near Cary, Illinois on Saturday morning, November 4, 2023. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Crescent Moon/Venus Conjunction

A waning crescent moon and the planet Venus were close partners in the early morning sky in Iowa on Thursday, November 9, 2023--about one degree apart--creating a striking spectacle to viewers. The image above, looking east, was captured at 3:15 am CST and is a 4 second exposure at f/4, ISO 320, 62mm focal length. The four second exposure enhanced earthshine on the moon in the image. Venus shone at a sparkling -4.28 apparent magnitude. The Nikon Z6ii camera's location was on North Marion Road, just north of County Home Road (seen at background right), just north of Marion, Iowa. Air temperature was 35 degrees F. Many hours earlier in the Eastern Hemisphere, Venus actually occulted with the moon creating a "mini" eclipse.

Moon/Venus closeup. 3:18 am. 1/2 second exposure at f/4, ISO 500, 70mm focal length.

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Contrail Peep Hole

 An aircraft contrail appears bright and contrasty through a large gap in the clouds in these two pics looking east from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Nikon Z6ii camera.

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Fall Thunderstorm--With Hail

 

Three storm cells approached the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor area on the evening of Wednesday, October 11, 2023, setting off weather radio alarms with a severe warning. This image looks south-southwest from Alburnett Road in the Bowman Meadows housing development of Marion, Iowa at 5:20 pm. The camera centers on a gap in the clouds which reveals a strong updraft.

5:21 pm. Panoramic view looking southwest at the severe-warned cell that reportedly had potential for "ping-pong ball size" hail. The storm was located about 11.5 miles distant, just east of the town of Ely, in southern Linn County. Nikon Z6ii camera.

5:18 pm Radarscope image, showing the cluster of storms, some tagged with the new "Special Weather Statement" polygons. The blue target icon is my location. Southern Cedar Rapids received pea-size hail from this event.

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