Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2007 December 8

Star Trails at Dawn

Credit & Copyright: Koen van Gorp
Explanation: Just fix your camera to a tripod and you too can make an image of graceful trails
traced by the stars as planet Earth rotates on its axis. Made on September 14 from Montlaux,
France, this wide-angle view nicely shows the stars near the celestial equator tracing nearly
straight lines in projection, while stars north and south of the equator, respectively, appear to
circle the north and south celestial poles. Featured are the stars of Orion (right of center),
brilliant Venus rising (left) as bright star Sirius rises in the south (bottom center), and a polar
orbiting Iridium satellite (upper left). Beautiful dawn sky colors seem painted along the horizon.
This remarkable picture was constructed from 477 consecutive 30 second digital exposures
recorded over 4.3 hours and later combined.
Tomorrow's picture: dust sculpture

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