A scene looking west on January 16, 2015 but with a field stretching up to and beyond the zenith overhead, taking in the Zodiacal Light stretching up to the Pleiades at upper left. Just to the right of the Pleiades is green Comet Lovejoy, with its faint ion tail pointing away from the Sun along the same plane as the Zodiacal Light, as it should. Ion tails always point directly away from the Sun, as they are blown out by the solar wind. Comet Lovejoy was crossing the ecliptic this night, as it heads north in its orbit traveling almost perpendicular to the ecliptic plane.
Also in the field at centre is a short streak of a meteor, apparently shooting toward the Sun as well, though its trail seems to be cut of sharply at the end at right, perhaps due to the shutter closing just as it appeared.
This is a mosaic panorama of 3 segments, each shot with a 15mm lens, for 1 minute at f/2.8 and a Canon 6D at ISO 3200. Shot from City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico. It is part of a 360° panorama of the entire sky. Stitched with PTGui.
The Amazing Sky 