Orion Taurus and Pleiades M45 12-14-15

Lots to take in here, this picture is full of stars! We have the Orion constellation at the bottom, looking as beautiful as always. You can easily spot Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, and Rigel. Unfortunately, Saiph was just out of site, behind the house. The belt of Orion is also clearly visible. The stars that make up his belt are Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. The Orion Nebula is to the right of the belt, and is also referred to as Messier 42 or just M42.

The middle of the picture is dominated by the constellation Taurus, you can make out the head of the bull as a triangle near the middle of the image. This open cluster of stars is also known as Hyades. The largest star in the triangle is Aldebaran, shining at an apparent magnitude 0.84 tonight.

Next, we have the Pleiades, Seven Sisters M45 near the top of the picture. I've always looked at the Pleiades as a question mark in the sky. It is actually another open cluster in the Taurus constellation, and in fact has many more than just seven stars.

This picture is a 10 second exposure, ISO 800, and taken with a Galaxy Note 5. I couldn't believe it myself, the fact that a phone can take pictures of the night sky like this is amazing. Post processing (minor brightness, contrast, de-blur/sharpening tweaks) was with Photoshop CS6 and Astra Image 4.0.

 Image taken in Cathedral City, CA