A Symphony in Northern Winter Skies
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti
Despite the cold,
a chance to view the shimmering northern lights
coaxed this skygazer
onto the frozen surface of Lake Superior on the west coast of the
Keweenaw Peninsula and offered this nocturnal crescendo as a reward.
A northern late winter night sky also plays across the
panoramic
composition of images made
between 10pm and 1am on the night of February 28/March 1.
At left, a faint band of Zodiacal light rises sharply from
the horizon crossing Mars and the Pleides star cluster.
Both the distant galaxy M31 and our own Milky Way shine
above the greenish
auroral arc.
Navigational
north pole star Polaris is centered above
and accompanied on the
right by the northern night's most recognizable asterism,
the Big Dipper.
Terrestrial lights include markers for two breakwaters on the
the horizon near the center of the scene.