Milky Way and Giant Trees

In a clear mid-summer night the Milky Way in constellations Cygnus and Cassiopeia shine above the Hume Lake in Sequoia National Park. To the lower right of the image note our neighboring galaxy Andromeda or M31, a cosmic island of over 200 billion stars, some 2.5 million light years away. The National Park is most famous for its Giant Sequoia trees, including some of the largest trees on Earth. Sequoias are visible around the lake in the above image. They grow to an average height of 50-85 m and 6-8 m in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 m (311 ft) in height and 17 m (57 ft) in diameter. The oldest known Giant Sequoia is 3,500 years old.