Andromeda Galaxy and part of the disc of the Milky Way rising over Lassen Peak in Northern California.

You can also see the Triangulum Galaxy though it looks like a fuzzy star in this picture. It’s about 1/4 of the image height down from Andromeda and it forms what looks like the bottom of 3 nearly uniformly distributed points on a line with Andromeda and a bright star that forms the middle.

I think it’s pretty awesome to be able see the two closest non satellite galaxies, part of the disc of our own galaxy, and a beautiful part of our planet in one image.

I’m so glad I decided to haul my gear up the trail (with 2600 feet elevation gain!) to the top of Mt Brokeoff where there is a great 360 degree view including a close up view of Lassen Peak which last erupted in the 1910s. I was able to witness a great sunset, a fantastic moonset and then see and photograph the Milkyway in glorious detail. This picture is a crop of a full spherical panorama.

I’m a photographer (mostly amateur) that loves to take and share pictures of the natural world. You can see more at https://www.facebook.com/CoryPoolePhotography