North celestial pole. Optical image of constellations around the north celestial pole. The pole is marked by the bright star Polaris (Alpha Ursae Mino

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North celestial pole. Optical image of constellations around the north celestial pole. The pole is marked by the bright star Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris, top centre) in the constellation Ursa Minor, the little bear. Just left of centre is the constellation Cassiopeia, the queen, with its brightest stars forming a W shape. At upper right is the faint constellation Cepheus, the king. At lower right is the faint constellation Lacerta, the lizard. The Milky Way crosses this region horizontally. It is the band of light formed from the millions of stars in the plane of our galaxy.

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Size: 3150px × 3136px
Photo credit: © ECKHARD SLAWIK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: alpha, astronomy, cassiopeia, celestial, cepheus, constellation, constellations, cosmology, lacerta, milky, minor, minoris, night, north, polaris, pole, science, sky, space, star, starfield, stars, stellar, ursa, ursae