Explanation:
Stars seem
to arc through southern skies in this
surrealistic
time exposure -- recorded before moonrise from the
GeminiSouth
Observatory, Cerro Pachon, Chile,
Planet
Earth.
During the one hour 40 minute exposure
camera and tripod were fixed,
so the concentric star trails are a
reflection
of Earth's daily rotation about its axis.
The view looks to the south and includes the
Gemini telescope enclosure in the foreground.
At the apparent center of the curving trails, the South
Celestial Pole
lies just off the upper left edge.
Two faint, wide streaks track the
Magellanic Clouds, satellites
of the Milky Way Galaxy, while a meteor flashes throught the scene
just left of the observatory.
