Stars Circling the South Celestial Pole

October 26, 2014

Startrails2aapod

Photographer
: Fabiano Belisario Diniz; Fabiano's Flickr site
Summary Authors: Fabiano Belisario Diniz; Jim Foster

As a participant in a Brazilian astrophotography observation night this past July, I took the above image showing multiple star trails around the South Celestial Pole. It's composed of 287 individual pictures. Because my location was just a little more than 14 degrees from the Equator, the celestial pole (overhead of the geographic south pole) lies quite close to the horizon. Canopus is the brilliant star (star trail) at left. Photos taken on July 23, 2014.
 
Photo details: 287 individual pictures; each one exposed for 30 seconds; 8 mm fish-eye lens; f/5.6; ISO 3200.