A Monday morning blazing with stars

One of those mornings - 5.55 a.m. and the sky is blazing with stars, No sign of the Moon that ruined last night's sky - unless you are a lunar astronomer of course! Orion dominates all with Sirius seeming unusually high in the sky -  the brightest of them all until I spotted Jupiter - it can't really be that Lepus just below Orion bright. Unusual stars below Orion - unusual in that they are usually lost in the murk of low altitude or below the horizon from the UK. Canis Major , Lupus and unfamiliar  Puppis and Columba It went through my head with Orion almost vertical - just West of South - that tent shaped Auriga was also the "right" way up. Constellation of GeminiGemini was recognisable because of Castor and Pollux overhead. Delphinus was clearly visible towards the south east but very high - to the North West Cassiopaeia was a W standing on its side. Gemini, Perseus and Taurus were there with the Pleiades very clear. I was only outside for 5 minutes - it was quite chilly but after a couple of minutes the light pollution that has increased gradually over the years became more evident - mainly in rows of concentrated bright street lights that seemed pointless at this early hour with not a car headlight - and I suspect no pedestrians - in sight. Cabrera was almost in total darkness with none of the low wattage walkway lamps switched on - the nearest things to street light in Cabrera. I knew Camelopardalis was there somewhere but not an easily recognisable constellation to spot.

Camelopardalis