Stock Photo - A mosaic of the northern winter Milky Way and brilliant stars and constellations in and around Orion the Hunter. The Milky Way extends here from Perseus in the north to Canis Major in the south. . . Throughout the scene are numerous dark lanes and dust clouds such as the Taurus Dark Clouds at upper right. The Milky Way is dotted with numerous red â. œhydrogen-alphaâ. . regions of emission nebulosity, such as the bright Rosette Nebula at lower left and the California Nebula at upper right. The curving arc of Barnardâ. . s Loop surrounds the east side of Orion. . . Orion is below centre, with Sirius at lower left. Taurus is at upper right and Gemini at upper left. Auriga is at top and Perseus at upper right. I shot the segments for this on a very clear night on December 5, 2015 from the Quailway Cottage at Portal, Arizona. . . This is a mosaic of 8 segments, in two columns of 4 rows, with generous overlap. Each segment was made of 4 x 2. 5-minute exposures stacked with mean combine stack mode to reduce noise, plus 2 x 2. 5-minute exposures taken through the Kenko Softon filter layered in with Lighten belnd mode to add the star glows. Each segment was shot at f/2. 8 with the original 35mm Canon L-series lens and the filter-modified (by Hutech) Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600, riding on the iOptron Sky-Tracker. All stacking and stitching in Photoshop CC 2015. The soft diffusion filter helps bring out the star colors in this area of sky rich in brilliant giant stars.