Tree-Framed Orion

The silhouettes of two trees frame the constellation Orion around 8:50 PM, March 2, 2011. This view, from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, looks southwest. The -1.47 magnitude star at left, partially diffused by a drifting contrail, is Sirius in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius is the brightest star in our skies and one of the closest--only 8.6 light years from Earth. At upper right is the constellation Taurus, dominated by its brightest star (top left part of the "V" shape), the 0.84 magnitude Aldebaran. This image was created with a 16-second exposure at f/3.5, an ISO rating of 320 and a focal length of 18mm.