Spanning southern to northern skies, stars trail [
http://www.astropix…] across this panoramic view of the African night from equatorial Kenya [
http://www.cia.gov/…]. The three hour long exposure [
http://www.astrolea…] 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 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is at the center of the concentric arcs on the left and the North Celestial Pole [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is at the far right (scroll right). And, you guessed it(!), the stars setting along the Celestial Equator [
http://www.jpl.nasa…] leave the straight trails near the middle of the picture. Well illustrated in this thoughtfully composed panorama [
http://www.photosym…], the star trails in the African night are, of course, not due to motions of the individual stars but simply reflect the daily rotation [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of planet Earth itself [
http://www.windows.…uts/earth2.html ].
Explanation
Spanning southern to northern skies, stars trail [
http://www.astropix…] across this panoramic view of the African night from equatorial Kenya [
http://www.cia.gov/…]. The three hour long exposure [
http://www.astrolea…] 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 [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is at the center of the concentric arcs on the left and the North Celestial Pole [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is at the far right (scroll right). And, you guessed it(!), the stars setting along the Celestial Equator [
http://www.jpl.nasa…] leave the straight trails near the middle of the picture. Well illustrated in this thoughtfully composed panorama [
http://www.photosym…], the star trails in the African night are, of course, not due to motions of the individual stars but simply reflect the daily rotation [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of planet Earth itself [
http://www.windows.…uts/earth2.html ].
Explanation
