... On August 1st, a time exposure created this surreal view that looks up into the early morning sky over southern Quebec. ... The Tail of a Wonderful Star . ... To seventeenth century astronomers, Omicron Ceti or Mira was known as a wonderful star, a star whose brightness could change dramatically in the course of about 11 months. ... Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, the star factory known as Messier 17 lies some 5,500 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius. ...