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> North celestial pole star trails

North celestial pole star trails

author: David Malin Images/Novapix

reference: a-pas01-00008

Image Size 300 DPI: 25 * 26 cm

As the earth spins beneath the stars they appear to move across the sky from east to west. However, if one looks in the direction of the celestial poles, the stars appear to circle a single point on the sky. This is the position of the earth's axis of rotation projected into space. This picture was made from La Palma in the Canary Islands, so the pivotal point is 30 degrees above the northern horizon, which is the geographical latitude of La Palma. In the northern sky there is also a bright star very close to the celestial pole. It is Polaris, the Pole star and is the shortest and brightest of the star trails seen here.

Keywords for this photo:

ASTRONOMY - CIRCUMPOLAR - NIGHT - NORTH CELESTIAL POLE - NORTHERN HEMISPHERE - POLARIS - POLE STAR - ROTATION - STAR - STAR TRAILS - STARRY SKY -