Billions And Billions Of Stars

There was a lot to see in this view of the northeast sky just before 1:30 AM, Tuesday, September 11, 2012. The ultra-clear sky featured the constellation Perseus (upper left), the star cluster Pleiades (right center), the "head" of Taurus the Bull (partially hidden behind the roof-mounted weather station), the -2.39 magnitude planet Jupiter (left of the station) and the 0.06 magnitude star Capella in the constellation Auriga (left center). This image was taken from Brentwood Drive NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and is a 30-second exposure at f/3.5, 400 ISO and 18mm focal length.