Photographer: Marli Bryant Miller; Marli's Web site Summary Author: Marli Bryant Miller These two photos show the same sand dune in southern Death Valley, taken 15 years apart. Both photos are towards the north, and both were taken within 15...

Photographer: Chris Kotsiopoulos Summary Author: Chris Kotsiopoulos This 70-shot photo sequence shows a lightning display that occurred during a severe thunderstorm last summer on the island of Ikaria, Greece, near the southwestern coast of Turkey. The stormy weather actually developed...

Photographer: Stefan Pleister; Stefan's Web site Summary Authors: Stefan Pleister; Jim Foster The photo above showing a handsome rainbow arching over lush green fields near Korbach, Germany was taken at a meeting of amateur astronomers. An afternoon thundershower had just...

Photographer: Carmen Rockett; Carmen's Web site Summary Author: Carmen Rockett; Jim Foster The photo above showing the partially frozen Niagara Falls (American Falls) was taken on March 9, 2010. A spray rainbow at bottom left accents these majestic falls. The...

Photographer: Jim Grant Summary Author: Dave Lynch; Jim Grant; Jim Foster This “split screen” sunset was snapped at Ponto Beach near Carlsbad in southern California on January 24, 2012. The scarlet-colored cirrus clouds on the right half of the photo...

Photographer: Bill Curry; Bill's Web site Summary Author: Bill Curry; Jim Foster The photo above showing rays of sunlight breaking through a sullen sky was taken after a brief but intense snow squall in Port Maitland, Nova Scotia, Canada. Many...

Photographer: Thomas McGuire; Thomas's Web site Summary Author: Thomas McGuire The San Juan River cuts through the Raplee Monocline a few miles upstream from the settlement of Mexican Hat, Utah. Rock folds that dip in one direction are called monoclines...

Photographer: Giuseppe Pappa Summary Author: Giuseppe Pappa; Jim Foster The photo above showing a small eruption on Mount Etna, on the island of Sicily, was captured earlier this week. It was taken near my home in Mascalucia, which is approximately...

Photographer: Bjorn Sothmann; Bjorn's Web site Summary Author: Bjorn Sothmann The photo above showing ice coating this breakwater in Geneva, Switzerland was taken on February 4, 2012. Breaking waves from Lake Geneva are freezing upon contact with the frigid metal...

Photographer: Marli Bryant Miller; Marli's Web site Summary Author: Marli Bryant Miller The southern Oregon coast hosts thousands of sea stacks, freestanding rocks that rise above the ocean surface. They form because of erosion: as waves gradually wear away a...

Photographer: Randy Scholten Summary Author: Randy Scholten; Jim Foster This photo sequence showing an extraordinary moonset was taken from the shores of Garrison Lake in Port Orford, Oregon. The camera was facing west; looking across the lake, beyond the narrow...

Photographer: Bill Metallinos; Bill's Web site Summary Author: Bill Metallinos; Jim Foster The photo above showing a startling fireball appearing to rip apart the night sky was seen during a star observation session at Mount Pantokrator on the Greek island...

Photographer: Trent LaCour Summary Author: Trent LaCour; Joe LaCour; Jim Foster These angular ice crystals formed on the side of a rock outcrop near Dungeness, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. This picture was taken in the shaded portion of a gravel...

Photographer: Patrick Wiggins; Patrick's Web site Summary Author: Patrick Wiggins; Jim Foster This photo shows randomly oriented elliptical openings in the ice of mostly frozen Utah Lake in northern Utah. It was taken through the open window of a small...

Photographer: Ray Boren Summary Author: Ray Boren The photo above showing curious alabaster footprints on the partially frozen Bear River in northern Utah was captured on December 3, 2011. I suspect there was a skiff of snow on the ice...

Photographer: Stu Witmer Summary Author: Stu Witmer What’s going on here? I’ve asked around and received some interesting possibilities, but so far no one I've talked to has ever seen this particular effect before. I took these photos on a...

Photographer: Laaifat Mohamed; Laaifat's Web site Summary Author: Laaifat Mohamed; Jim Foster The photo above showing a corona enshrouding the waxing gibbous Moon was observed above a lovely old church in Normandy, France. Jupiter is to the right of the...

Photographer: Richard H. Hahn; Richard's Web site Summary Author: Richard H. Hahn; Jim Foster The photo above showing a phenomenal display of lenticular clouds was observed near Estes Park, Colorado on the evening of January 5, 2012. I was on...

Photographer: Luc Perrot; Luc's Web site Summary Author: Luc Perrot; Jim Foster This photo above shows the Milky Way as observed from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean on the night of November 3, 2011. In the lower part of...

Photographer: Robert Farrimond Summary Authors: Robert Farrimond Mount Baker, at 10,778 ft (3,285 m), is one of several large stratovolcanoes in Washington State. Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, it's widely accepted that the volcanoes in this region are...

Photographer: Rick Scott; Rick's Web site Summary Author: Rick Scott; Jim Foster The photo above showing a huge outcrop of breccia was taken in Fall Canyon at Death Valley National Park, California. Breccia typically forms when angular fragments (over 2mm...

Photographer: Alessandro Zotta; Alessandro's Web page Summary Author: Alessandro Zotta; Jim Foster The photo above showing a colorful sundog heeling the horizon was taken in Trento, Italy on the afternoon of November 29, 2011. Sundogs, also known as parhelia or...