The image below was submitted by the photographer, who asks for help in identifying the cause of the blue streak near the Pleiades. He writes:
From bottom to top the image shows Orion, Taurus, and the Pleiades. I'm not sure what the blue streak below and to the left of the Pleiades is. It couldn't be seen with the unaided eye. I thought it could an anomaly caused by the lighting however, I have taken other pictures under the same conditions and the streak didn't show up. It was taken at approx. midnight on 10/24/2016 looking east from a small town in Ohio that lies between Cincinnati and Dayton. The only editing done to the .JPG was to crop out some of the visual noise and make a more aesthetically pleasing photo. I've also attached the unedited .NEF file to help with the identification of the blue streak. Even if it isn't used for APOD any info on what the streak could be will be appreciated. Of course the image can be uploaded to asterisk. If you need anymore information feel free to contact me.
Picture Specs.
Camera: Nikon d750
Lens: 24 - 120 mm f/4
Zoom: 24 mm
F-stop: f/4
ISO: ~1000
Exposure: 25 sec.
W/B: ~3750 K
I thought it might be an insect, based in part on the discussion in
this thread from years ago. Someone else thinks it is
too symmetric and geometric to be an insect's wings. Also, insects don't usually glow blue. Definitely not on the wings.
It looks to me like a lens artifact. Most likely a glare from the bright blue-ish source to the lower right of the full image. The color is consistent with it coming from that source.
Can you help?
