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This is the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer. Auriga is high in the sky during the winter months and is dominated by the bright star Capella, at magnitude 0.1 the sixth brightest in the sky.
Like Cassiopeia, the Milky way passes through this constellation, and there are several open clusters to be seen in and around Auriga.

In this picture the whole constellation can be seen, with many deep-sky objects including the three Messier objects M36, M37, and M37. All three are open clusters, and also in this picture is M35, another open cluster, in neighbouring Gemini. The bright star near the bottom is actually in Taurus, not Auriga, although it is traditionally part of Auriga's shape.

Move the mouse over the picture for annotation :: Click for a closer view of Auriga

This picture was exposed for 32 minutes at f/4.0 using a 50mm lens on Kodak Elitechrome 400 film. Scanned in high resolution by Snappy Snaps and processed in the Gimp.
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