Panorama Photo

During February evenings, the eye catching constellation in the east is Leo, the Lion. It is composed of several bright stars among which Regulus (Alpha Leonis) and Denebola (Beta Leonis) are the most famous (for locations please check the legend). Leo is part of the Zodiac, which is a band of 12 constellations along the ecliptica or the apparent path of the Sun through the sky.

Right of Leo, is the head of Hydra, the Snake. Hydra is the longest of the 88 constellations in the sky and is about 4 times longer than the length on the pano. Alphard is the alpha star.

In between is Sextans, the Sextant, a small constellation of a few faint stars and rather difficult to recognise with the naked eye.

Further to the right, almost in the south just above the horizon, is Canis Major, the Bigger Dog, with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky on its breast.

Above and right of Canis Major, you have a part of Monoceros, the Unicorn, the lower part of Orion, the Hunter, and the almost complete constellation of Lepus, the Hare (one star is out of the picture). Orion is now about in highest position in the south.

Above and left of Leo, you see part of Leo Minor, the Little Lion, and one of the legs of the big, well-known constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The two bright stars in the upper left corner are Megrez and Phecda which are part of the square.

Below Ursa Major, you find the small constellation of Canis Venatici, the Hunting Dogs but with the famous Alpha star Cor Caroli meaning Charles's Heart. Chara is the Beta star and means 'Joy'. Left of Chara is La Superba, a variable giant red carbon star. It is one of the reddest and coolest (2750°K) stars in the sky and approaching end of life. Most likely it will throw off its outer layers and form a planetary nebula after which a white dwarf will remain.

Finally, at left and just above the horizon is Coma Berenices, the Hair of Berenice. The Alpha star is near the horizon thus not yet visible. The upper star is Gamma Comae Berenices and part of the Coma Star Cluster also known as Melotte 111 (Mel 111) which is an open star cluster of about 40 stars. If you look well, you can distinguish about 25 of them on this 500 px pano.

Canon Eos M6 with EF-M 11-22 mm, 8 pics Raw, 20 mm (32 mm KB), iso 400, f 5.6, 20 s, PtguiPro, 13312x3714 398.5 MB TIFF, no crop, downsized 1796x500 314 KB JPEG.