I find it really hard not to erupt in smothering expressions involving fierce cursing and the invocation of man-made mythical beings, when looking at this picture. Sadly, I did not take it. Most likely, I never will, as it’s been taken with expensive gear under crystal clear skies. Add a solid eighteen hours of integration to that, and the fact that on good years, I’ll see eighteen hours of cloud free skies throughout the whole year, and you will understand the reasons for my excitement above. The photograph shows the familiar seven sisters, and an incredible amount of dust in the region that extends from the Pleiades to Taurus and Orion’s arm. Plus a generous amount of tiny galaxies in the background.