Starship Asterisk*

Orion Pines

Explanation: Taken with a camera fixed to a tripod, many short exposures were aligned with the stars to unveil this beautiful, dark night sky. Captured near the rural village of Albany`a at the northeastern corner of Spain, the three stars of Orion's belt stretch across top center in the starry frame. Alnitak, the easternmost (left) of the belt stars is seen next to the more diffuse glow of the Flame Nebula and the dark notch of the famous Horsehead. Easily visible to the naked-eye The Great Nebula of Orion is below the belt stars. A mere 1,500 light-years distant, it is the closest large stellar nursery to our fair planet. Best seen in photographs, the broad and faint arc of Barnard's Loop seems to embrace Orion's brighter stars and nebulae though. In the northern spring the familiar northern winter constellation is setting. Near the western horizon toward lower right Orion's apparently bright blue supergiant Rigel just touches the branches of a pine tree.

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As per usual; a beautiful APOD! Am I missing it or is Betelgeuse; &
Bellatrix Missing from view?

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 12:45 pm As per usual; a beautiful APOD! Am I missing it or is Betelgeuse; &
Bellatrix Missing from view?

They're way off the top, out of the frame.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 12:54 pm

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 12:45 pm As per usual; a beautiful APOD! Am I missing it or is Betelgeuse; &
Bellatrix Missing from view?

They're way off the top, out of the frame.

Thanks Chris! That is what I thought!

Nothing describes astronomy's past tense more aptly than the pine tree in the present and Orion 1500 years ago.

DL MARTIN wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 3:58 pm Nothing describes astronomy's past tense more aptly than the pine tree in the present and Orion 1500 years ago.

We're seeing Orion now. Not in the past.

And when I look out the window I swear the Earth is flat.

DL MARTIN wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 8:46 pm And when I look out the window I swear the Earth is flat.

In spherical geometry, it is.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 4:45 pm

DL MARTIN wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 3:58 pm Nothing describes astronomy's past tense more aptly than the pine tree in the present and Orion 1500 years ago.

We're seeing Orion now. Not in the past.

Both statements can be somewhat correct in a relative way...

Are you sure those are pine trees? The taller one looks more like spruce, although I couldn't confirm tree types in northeast Spain. I've come to expect precision from APOD, so I suspect you are correct, but just in case...