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Credit & Copyright: LeRoy Zimmerman
Explanation:
Spanning southern to northern skies,
stars
trail across this panoramic view of the African
night from equatorial
Kenya.
The three hour long
exposure
was made on a clear, dark, mid November evening
facing due west and covers just over 180 degrees along the horizon.
So, the South Celestial Pole
is at the center of the
concentric arcs on the left and the
North Celestial Pole is
at the far right (scroll right).
And, you guessed it(!), the stars setting along the
Celestial Equator
leave the straight trails near the middle of the picture.
Well illustrated in this thoughtfully
composed panorama, the star
trails in the African night are, of course, not due to motions
of the individual stars but simply reflect the
daily rotation
of planet Earth itself.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: star trail
Publications with words: star trail
See also: