Star Trails above Poseidon Temple

January 11, 2010

20100112 – Tuesday - Star Trails above Poseidon Temple

Photographer: Chris Kotsiopoulos
Summary Author: Chris Kotsiopoulos; Jim Foster

The image above shows a colorful time exposure of the night sky above the c. 2,450 year old Poseidon Temple at Sounion, Greece. It was captured on November 13, 2009 between 4:34 and 5:49 a.m. Eastern European Time. The constellation of Lepus is a loose grouping of inconspicuous stars, which on this autumn evening was centered just above, and to the left of, the Poseidon Temple. Rigel, the brightest star in Orion, is the magenta trail streaking toward the temple. Timid Lepus, sometimes portrayed as a hare being chased by the great but not always daring hunter Orion, is camouflaged here by nearby star trails. Saiph represents the right knee of Orion. The star trail seen bisecting the temple is that of Zaurak; a third magnitude star in Eridanus. See also the Earth Science Picture of the Day for November 30, 2009

Photo details: Canon EOS Rebel XTi camera; shutter speed 30 seconds x 146; aperture value 2.2; ISO 800. Lens: Canon EF28 mm; f/1.8 USM; focal length 28.0 mm

Sounion coordinates: 37.650058, 24.024466

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