Hopefully everyone is having a pleasant winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, here in the Midwest we have been riding the temperature roller coaster. Personally, I wish it would stay colder, not necessarily below freezing during the day but low enough to keep most waterways frozen to enhance the photo opportunities. The National Weather Service is predicting February to be near normal for the majority of the Midwest while most of the South and Eastern seaboard is above normal. Would be good for the photography to have one or two more good snows but I am in the minority for that wish.

Anyone looking for a unique astronomical event should go outside a few times a week until the end of February for a gathering of planets. For those who live in or near dark skies plus have a mid-sized telescope (6-8 inches), or larger, you can see all eight major planets in one evening – this does require you to look down at the earth for one of those planets. Shortly after sunset there is an excellent opportunity to see Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars - scattered across the sky. Later in the month, Mercury will join the ‘visual parade’ and the final week of February will have a display of seven planets across the night sky. Mercury is normally the difficult planet to see but at the end of the month, Saturn will be closer to the sun and a challenge closer to the end of the month. The planets will be in the West near the sun across the ecliptic to the Southeast.

Our first image this month is a subject that has graced the newsletter several times but this month it’s being presented due to a couple of recent events this week, earthquakes. For those new to the newsletter, this is Cape Neddick Lighthouse, commonly called Nubble Light, located near York Maine, which is near the Maine and New Hampshire border; was first activated in 1879. What I learned this week is that Maine typically has four earthquakes a year, nothing to be alarmed about since most are rarely felt and are nowhere near the intensity of California and Alaska. Monday a magnitude 3.8 and Wednesday a 2.0 rattled the state, both epicenters were less than ten miles from this lighthouse, out in the Atlantic Ocean. Camera Data: 24mm 0.6 sec F16 ISO100

This past month I have spent numerous days looking for unique bird species that have migrated into the Midwest, our second image is not one of those, this one is a Short-eared Owl. This image was captured while looking for another Owl which I hope to spotlight next month. The Short-eared Owl is an open-country hunter and is one of the world's most widely distributed owls, and among the most frequently seen in daylight., I found this guy right about sunset a few weeks ago plus captured this image without leaving my car. Camera Data: 800mm 1/1000 sec F5.6 ISO8000

Here's a link to download the appropriate version of this month's image for your desktop, one for standard screens and one for wide screens along with a Mobile Phone Image. For desktop computers or tablets, Right-click on the text for the format you need and select Save As, save to a location on your device and change the background as needed for your OS.

For Mobile devices, most mobile phones require a long press and a menu popup will be displayed, click save then follow the steps for your operating system to set as your background image.

Let me know if anyone has problems or questions with their mobile device, and I will try to assist.

http://www.timlesterimages.com/calendar/february.html

Enjoy the images this month and let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Tim Lester

TIM LESTER IMAGES
Email: tim@PROTECTED
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