Photograph by Charles Jones

This is an image of a morning Sun pillar that was taken in the winter of 1999-2000 at the U. S. Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, USA.

A natural occurrence such as this seems quite striking. (Also see the bigger image). Could ancient peoples with strong beliefs about the existence of powerful sky gods/godesses, interpret solar/atmospheric phenomena such as this as a "ladder" or "stairway to heaven"? As a "torch" or as "raining fire down"?

The thick, low, hulking shelf of clouds trapped the burning light close to the horizon, thus intensifying the image. More photos and information about Sun pillars and Venus pillars can be found in a recent NASA web article

Photograph by Charles Jones

This is an image of an evening Sun pillar that was taken in the winter of 2001-2002 at the U. S. Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland, USA. This is a more serene, gossamer image. But to me it is still striking: exhibiting a kind of "burning bush" appearance.

Photograph by Lucy Albert

This image was taken in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and is a picture of comet IkeyaZho.

Lucy's account: The photo taken on March 23, 2002 right after sunset at about 7:20pm. The location was the corner of Shucks Rd & Rte 136, Harford County, in the farmer's field. The farmer came by questioning the situation and when we explained, all he wanted was a look at the comet. We showed him the planets, too.

Doug Witten & I had agreed to meet there to see if we could spot the Comet. Doug spotted it first using his 8" Dob, as I was looking for it with my 10x70 binox. Very nice little comet on a lovely evening.

The camera is my husband's old Canon AE1; 400 ISO film; 12 second exposure. The streak on the right of the photo is one of the many aircraft we saw, heading west.

In reality, the site was much darker, but the 12 second exposure allowed the sky glow from Baltimore to intrude.

Photograph by Charles Jones

May 15, 2002, College Park, Maryland. Pentax ME Super. Kodak Max 400.

Photograph by Charles Jones

May 16, 2002, Baltimore, Maryland, Lake Montebello Reservoir. Pentax ME Super. Kodak Max 400.

Photograph by Charles Jones

May 16, 2002, Baltimore, Maryland, Lake Montebello Reservoir. Pentax ME Super. Kodak Max 400.

Photograph by Lucy Albert

Here is her account: "This was taken on Nov. 9, 2001 at around 9:35pm when the skies over the US were filled with aurora. The photo was taken from across the street from our house in Joppatowne MD.

It is a 5 second exposure using a hand-held Canon AE-1, 400 ISO film. I had injured my leg in the excitement of the moment and the pain prohibited me from being able to hold the camera any steadier. There was no time to look for the tripod! Spectacular display, all deep pinks & green and lots of white rays shooting through it all. The dark area on the right is a pine tree and the view is straight up."

Photograph by Lucy Albert

Here is her account: "Aurora early evening, 6:40pm on October 20 taken from our house on Falconbridge Dr., Joppatowne. Facing northeast. Started out with a red glow and white streaks quickly appeared in the pink and red sky, moving toward the west. Photo taken with a Coolpix 5700, 1/8 sec exposure and a bit of work in PhotoShop to lighten up the image."

Photograph by Charles Jones

Taken April 6, 2000, about 8:35 p.m. on the grounds of the U.S. Census Bureau, Suitland, Maryland, USA. After work and before driving back to Baltimore, I went out to see the conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. They were low in the west northwest. After a short viewing I began to be bothered by what I at first took to be "skyglow" light pollution from DC. It was getting worse as it got darker and began blurring my view of the Moon and planets. It felt weird. Then I glanced up, directly overhead. I saw a pink band from the horizon to a point way passed the zenith. Then it dawned up me that this was an aurora. I ran a considerable way back to my car, got my Pentax ME Super, and ran back to the dark spot on campus. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I steadied the camera against a tree. Kodak 400 film. Exposure about 5 seconds. I used Photoshop to intensify the color saturation and to remove the double moon image caused by my unsteady grip.

Photograph by Charles Jones

Taken December 07, 2003, about 4:15 p.m. Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Moon, snow, and the Belt of Venus (the pink part of the sky). Canon G2 digital camera, aperture priorty, f3.2

Photograph by Lucy Albert

Here is her account: "We were in Ocala FL, visiting my parents. On our way home from a shopping trip to the mall, I noticed the colors in the clouds. I pulled over on the road and managed to take several photo of these iridescent clouds. The field was filled with purple and pink flowers. The combination of colors on the ground and in the sky was breathtaking. Fujifilm; A210 digital camera; 4/20/2004 at 14:15 EDT, Ocala FL, corner of Rte 80 & Rte 200."

Photograph by Cathy Tingler

This is Cathy's report: "Full Moon Photography Night at Rocks State Park, King and Queen Seat. Our club was invited to point out some interesting night items in the July sky to photographers. The photographers were granted permission by the park authorities to take pictures of the full moon from the restricted King and Queen Seat area. This was a true once in a life time experience. We were allowed full access at night to this area. Several members set up telescopes in Wilson Picnic area. A short presentation was given to the photographers. Once at the King and Queen Seat area, several other club members were present. A short orientation to the night sky was given. Several 10x50 binoculars were passed around for sky viewing. Everyone took photos and shared the binoculars until their heart's were content. It was a real thrill being on the King and Queen Seat at night. Lots of fun, all had a great time.

Our group was supervised by a Ranger. A Seasonal Naturalist for Rocks State Park was also present to run the program and help the photographers.

Camera- Canon Power Shot A60 Digital Camera
Picture taken July 30,  2004
Cathy Tingler"

Photograph by Rodney Owens

"[This moon picture was taken from]...my driveway in Glen Burnie on 6/8/04. The the pics are done using a Nikon Coolpix 2000 held up to the eyepiece."

Photograph by Rodney Owens

Canon EOS digital camera,1/640 second; Glen Burnie, Maryland; December, 2004

Photograph by Rodney Owens

Canon EOS digital camera,3.2 seconds; Glen Burnie, Maryland; December, 2004

Photograph by Rodney Owens

Canon EOS digital camera,6 seconds; Glen Burnie, Maryland; December, 2004