This image of South Huntsville was taken on the evening of March 28, 2017 from the overlook on Cecil Ashburn Drive.
In the foreground is the campus of Virgil I. Grissom High School. The school gets it’s name from astronaut Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom who was tragically killed in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy, Florida on January 27, 1967. Initially constructed in 1969, the school will be relocated to a new campus in south west Huntsville in the fall of 2017. The lights from the baseball field can be seen as the Grissom Tigers Baseball team were playing one of their last night home games on this field when the picture was taken.
The small mountain that the sun is setting behind is Madkin mountain. At 1,233 ft, Madkin mountain is the highest point on Redstone Arsenal. The mountain is home to several cell phone towers that can be seen in the picture. Madkin mountain is also where the 1989 tornado initially touched down before continuing on to Airport Road.
The image is a composite of several images taken over about an hour time span, one taken as the sun was setting, one after the sun had dropped behind the mountain to capture the colors in the sky, and one after it was dark to capture the city lights. The stars were added in Photoshop for effect using the custom brush available at phlearn.com.
I was amazed at the number of lights that can be seen from this vantage point, particularly to the south of Madkin mountain looking across Redstone Arsenal toward Huntsville International Airport.
