Constellations On Parade

Several constellations appear on parade as they wheel across the northeast sky on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. At far left with bright star Capella is the constellation Auriga. Above and to the right of Auriga is Perseus. The two bright stars at upper right are part of Aries and the group of stars at far right make up part of Pisces. The tight cluster of stars at lower center is the Pleiades and the large bright spot behind the tree still bearing its leaves at lower left is a rising waning gibbous moon. The vividly recognizable Pleiades (Seven Sisters) was mentioned in Chinese literature around 2350 BC. It was also mentioned in the Bible three times and in Homer's Odyssey (circa 800 BC). This image was shot from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is a 30-second exposure at f/4, 18mm focal length and 400 ISO.