Orion over Mount Teide

Explanation: Orion is rarely seen like this. To achieve this majestic vista , you need a camera capable of taking such long duration exposures that faint features in the night sky become revealed. Iconic nebulas that appear include the Orion Nebula , the Flame Nebula , and Barnard's Loop . For contrast, it also helps to have a volcano on the foreground, in this case the Teide volcano on Tenerife on the Canary Islands of Spain . But if you want your Teide volcano snow-covered , you also need good timing -- because that only happens, typically, for a few days each year. Good timing also includes waiting for Orion to appear just behind Teide , which occurred late last year after sunset. The featured image is the result of a series of images taken consecutively with the same camera from the same location.

Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)