A little more of the beauty in Chicago... Donated by Kate S. Buckingham in honor of her brother Clarence, the Buckingham Fountain is considered one of the finest ornamental fountains in America. It has been designated as a Chicago Landmark and a contributing feature within Grant Park’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

See other photos from Chicago on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

As shot from the shores of Chicago, the nearly full Moon rises above Lake Michigan.

See other lunar photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Going back a bit to catch up... As shot from Old Church Rd in Nokesville, Virginia, the early morning full Super Sturgeon Blue Moon lights up the fog in the field in front of me and the clouds above and below the setting Moon.

See other lunar photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

One of my favorites of the latest comet... Comet Tsuchinsha-Atlas appears over the 14th Brooklyn Monument in Manassas National Battlefield Park in Manassas, Virginia. The people on the ridge were either doing the same thing I was or taking photos of the full Moon rising behind me, which proved a double edged sword as it lighted the foreground but also washed out the comet's tail. The lights from Gainesville to the west didn't help either.

See other photos of the comet on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Jumping ahead here for a second.... Taken from the entrance gate to Valley View Farms in Delaplane, Virginia, at about 10 pm the sky just exploded in reds across the sky clearly visible to the unaided eye. These are both 30-second exposures with the one on the left taken about 3 minutes prior to the other. The common points of reference are the four stars at the bottom making up the dipper of the Big Dipper constellation.

See other photos of the northern lights on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Thought it was time for a critter shot. This little one (about 2 inches long or so) had taken up residence in one of our lemon trees on our back deck. I had been watching it for about a month and then it was gone.

See other photos of it on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

As seen from the property of Agnes Garden at Aspen Grove Farm in King George, Virginia, the International Space Station passes in front of the Sun. (Special thank you to Janet and Chris for allowing me onto their property!) It seemingly choose a path to avoid the sunspots. This is a composite of five images and it took only about .6 seconds for the Station to get across the Sun from right to left, as it was about 470 km from me.

See other photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

It wasn't a particularly colorful sunrise, but there is that period of time in the early morning where the colors are reflections and clarity just let you know it is going to be one of those perfect beach days.

See other photos from Ocean City on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

I shot this image of the Sun in the clear blue sky over Assawoman Bay and Swan Point in Ocean City, Maryland, an hour or so before sunset.

See the ensuing sunset photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Shot in the early, early morning after shooting the Milky Way from this spot the evening before.... In this 30-second exposure shot from the South Point Boat Ramp in Berlin, Maryland, Sinepuxent Bay is lit up by the Moon that is outside the frame over the top of the tallest tree as the stars shine through the thin haze.

See another version on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

In this 2-minute exposure shot from the South Point Boat Ramp in Berlin, Maryland, Scorpius is prominent on the right side of the image with the Milky Way extending across the south eastern sky over Sinepuxent Bay.

See another version with the stars of Scorpius labeled on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Shot from my front yard in Bristow, Virginia, United Flight 1439 from Newark to Charlotte at 38,000' transits in front of the Moon.

See other Moon transit photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

Shot about an hour after sunset from Parkgate Drive, the crescent Moon with lots of Earthshine hangs over a barn. The bright stars Pollux and Castor, left and right respectively, are easily visible above the Moon.

See other astro and post-sunset photos on my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography.

After the big Northern Lights event in May, I started shooting the Sun, pretty much daily, to watch the sunspots changing and marching across its face.

On my Instagram, @raytolomeophotography, there are not only other images, but a time lapse of shots covering 30 days.

Shot from adjacent the Little Georgetown Cemetery in Broad Run, Virginia, this is an hour of star trails around the North Star from 9:30 to 10:30, with lots of airplanes and the ISS moving left to right across the northern sky during that time. It is a composite of 119, 30-second images and the ISS is the solid, non-blinking line starting about halfway up the image. The others are airplanes.

Other versions of this image can be found on my Instagram,

@raytolomeophotography.

A yellow rose shot the day after some overnight rain and the day before Mother's Day. In my front yard garden in Kingsbrooke neighborhood in Bristow, Virginia.

A color version of this image can be found on my Instagram,

@raytolomeophotography.

One more..... As seen from the Woodvale Cemetery in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, on April 8, 2024.

Many more shots of the eclipse can be found on my Instagram,

@raytolomeophotography.

As seen from the Woodvale Cemetery in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, on April 8, 2024. This shot is one of my favorite's from that event. About 30 minutes into when the Moon first started touching the Sun and just before it covered this sunspot near the middle of our star.

@raytolomeophotography.

March provided some of the best viewing opportunities to capture Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks as it was approaching the Sun. Unfortunately my best shot includes the comet being photobombed by a Starlink satellite reflecting sunlight throughout the 60-second exposure.

This was shot from Signal Knob Overlook on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. Hamal is the bright star to the upper left.

To see these shots in more real-time, follow me @raytolomeophotography.

Probably my favorite image from this year. Posted with other images from that day @raytolomeophotography but not quite the same on that format as here. A composite of seven images shot from the west end of the Tidal Basin looking to the east just before sunrise.

Less than an hour after sunset, while the sky still had a deep, blue hue, the International Space Station rose out of the southern sky (to the right in the image) reflecting sunlight and crossed to the east over Lake Ashby before disappearing into the Earth's shadow. This is a composite of 7, 20-second exposures covering about 2 1/2 minutes of travel.

Follow me @raytolomeophotography and be the first to see these and other images.

Posted on @raytolomeophotography are a few additional shots of others there enjoying the sunshine.

Shot from Mandeville, Louisiana, after having some fantastic pizza @mcclainspizzeriamandeville,this is a 20-second exposure as the twilight glow remained on the horizon.

Posted on @raytolomeophotography is a few earlier shots of the sunset.

Woke up this morning to find unexpectedly clear skies and Venus and the crescent Moon hanging over the neighborhood, separated only by about 4 degrees. An abundant amount of Earth shine in the shadowed part of the Moon made it all the more interesting.

Posted on @raytolomeophotography is a wider of of them hanging over the neighborhood with Spica, the major star in the upper right of the shot.

December 6, 2024, marked the 25th anniversary of Space Station operations and that early evening, as seen from Eagle Point Fishing Camp in San Leon, Texas, it flew pretty much directly overhead reflecting sunlight from horizon to horizon.

This image is comprised of 13, 20-second exposures capturing the last 4 minutes of ISS travel to the southeast over Galveston Bay before disappearing in the Earth's shadow. Jupiter is the bright object to the left and the "flaring" was caused by the sunlight reflecting through the high, thin cloud layers.

Under perfectly clear skies and a half Moon providing some background lighting, headed out to shoot the International Space Station with a background of star trails. Did not think about Dulles International (off to the right) using the northern facing runway, or the smaller traffic in and out of Leesburgh and Winchester (to the left). Shooting from the field adjacent to the Little Georgetown Cemetery and Church of Our Savior in Broad Run, Virginia, this composite of 125, 30-second exposures (a little more than an hour total), has not only the International Space Station (entering from the left edge about halfway up and disappearing in the Earth's shadow directly below the North Star), but some other satellites, and then the overwhelming number of airplanes.

With an amazing amount of Earth shine on the shadowed part of the Moon, at their closest approach, there was less than 1 degree separating them. The close up was shot from behind The Nokesville School (@tns_tigers) in Nokesville, Virginia. The second was shot from the shores of Lake Ashby near Warrenton, Virginia.

One more from that Ocean City trip in October and a little before the sunrise shot I posted on @raytolomeophotography. I really like the difference in the colors in the contrast with the green in the cresting wave.

Revisiting a shot from October that I posted in color on @raytolomeophotography that included the full Moon and Jupiter on it. Removing them and turning to black and white I thought made a dramatic shot for here in the depths of December.

I haven't posted a critter here in a while, so reaching back to September and a visit to the San Diego Zoo. You can find more critters from this visit @raytolomeophotography.

In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for the annual ALS walk and took some shots of the sunrise and the waves crashing into the pilings.

Playing some catch up here, again....

In this composite image of 49, 2.5-second exposures (a little more the 2 minutes, total), the International Space Station is seen reflecting sunlight in the early morning as it comes out of the Earth's shadow from the right, passes over Pittsburgh, and exits through the constellation, Orion, on the left of the image.

Playing some catch up here....

One hour of star trails behind the Little Georgetown Cemetery and Church of Our Savior in Broad Run, Virginia, in the early morning. This image is comprised of 121, 30-second images.

Take a look at the Road Trip Gallery for a selection of the photos from this New England jaunt.

The International Space Station transiting the Moon with Jupiter watching from the right and the Pleiades Star Cluster on the left, and Uranus visible also, as shot from a field adjacent to the Calverton Baptist Church in Midland, VA, on July 12, 2023, at 4:20 a.m. This is a composite of 39, 5-second exposures covering about 3 1/2 minutes of ISS travel.

Shot from the entrance to Valley View Farm in Delaplane, Virginia, Mars is seen in front of the Beehive Cluster of stars (also known as Praesepe) on the night of June 2, 2023,. During is 2-minute exposure shot between cloud cover, a meteor showed up entering the atmosphere and brightened considerably before exiting the frame to the right..

Comprised of 85, 30-second exposures covering 45 minutes, the Intternational Space Station is seen reflecting sunlight as it rises near vertically (as opposed to the airplanes making horizontal tracks) from the horizon until disappearing into the Earth's shadow about 3 minutes later. This image was shot from the entrance of Valley View Farm in Delaplane, Virginia, on the evening of May 26, 2023. Whispy clouds moving through the sky give this an interesting additional feel of motion. Venus in the bright object in the lower left of the shot and its bright light also reflecting through the thin cloud cover.

The International Space Station reflected the sunlight as it rose from the horizon and exited the frame stage left as seen from Wakefield School in The Plains, Virginia.

Also in the sky were the planets, Mercury (on the horizon), Uranus, Venus, and Mars. Several stars and clusters are also labeled.

This is a composite of 10, 30-second exposures, stabilized with an equatorial tracker, plus the ground as a separate shot.

Equal treatment for the Presidents.

The early morning sky lights up just before sunrise all around the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.

One of the annual rites of spring around here. Early morning sunrise and the glimmering cherry blossoms around the Wasshington, DC, Tidal Basin with the Washington Monument in the background.

Typically you want to shoot the night sky away from the city lights. But when the three brightest natural night-sky objects come together over a city, it makes a nice portrait.

Here the crescent Moon reflects a bunch of Earth shine while Jupiter and Venus join overlooking Glendale, California. I shot this from the hills at the intersection of the 134 and 2 in the northwest corner of Eagle Rock.

Looks like this is the best I'm going to get of this celestial event that will not happen for another 50,000 years. This is a 63-second exposure of Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF) as shot from Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane, Virginia, on the morning of January 28, 2023.