Winter's Orion March-ing To Spring

One of the most dominant and recognizable constellations during the winter is Orion, the great hunter of ancient Greek mythology. The constellation features three prominent stars: Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Rigel, as well as the NGC1976 Nebula in Orion's sword. Orion is always followed by his faithful hunting dog, the constellation Canis Major, which contains the night sky's brightest star, Sirius. Orion continues to stand out well in March's southern skies, but begins to dip lower on the horizon and into the growing glare of the sun before disappearing in April. Above, Orion is seen looking southwest from Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 8:17 pm CDT, Monday, March 20, 2023, the first day of spring. At lower left is the -1.47 magnitude star Sirius. The bright object at upper left is the 0.37 magnitude star Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor. Image is a one second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2000 and 14mm focal length.

Closeup of Sirius (lower left) and Orion at 8:18 pm. Orion's belt and sword are easily recognizable. 0.6 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 14mm focal length. 

The -4.01 magnitude planet Venus was not to be left out of the sky show this evening. It is seen here setting in the west from Bowman Woods Park. 0.6 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 2500, 14mm focal length. Air temperature was 45 degrees F. Vernal Equinox (first day of Spring) arrived at 4:24 pm.

Speaking of spring, purple and yellow crocuses poke up here from the formerly snow-covered ground of our backyard on Tuesday afternoon, March 21. The flowers made their first appearance the day before, right on the first day of spring. The crocuses appear randomly throughout the backyard each year. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.