# @natgeo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzhvEgDAzn
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11685356-natgeo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/aa2f555e3b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-03-24T14:38:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Geographic (@NatGeo) — https://gondola.cc/NatGeo

## Caption

Photos by babaktafreshi / The last rays of the setting moon were shining on the cliffs in Zion National Park in Utah as the night sky was becoming darker every minute. A thin layer of high clouds, scattering starlight, diffused bright stars in the constellation Orion and revealed more of their striking colors in this 10-second-exposure photograph. Swipe for a wider angle image. Orion, the hunter, is the most prominent celestial figure in the Northern Hemisphere's winter nights. Marking a shoulder of Orion is bright star Betelgeuse. This red giant is a thousand times larger in diameter than the sun, at the very end of its life, waiting to stun the galaxy with its supernova explosion. At about 600 light-years away, we are at a safe distance from this closest supernova candidate. When that happens, anytime in the next several thousand years, it may outshine the full moon in the Earth’s sky. Text from my recent book "The World at Night." Explore from the Earth to the universe babaktafreshi and twanight. #orion #zionnationalpark #nightsky #betelgeuse

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 640,890
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- **Comments:** 2,033

## Tags

betelgeuse, zionnationalpark, orion, nightsky

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