|   | 
Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward  
  
Explanation:
What's happened to the sky?    
  
A time warp, of sorts, and a digital space warp too.    
  
The time   
warp occurs because the   
above image   
captured in a single frame a four hour exposure of the night sky.    
  
Prominent and picturesque   
star trails   
are visible.     
  
The space warp occurs because the above image is actually a full   
360 degree panorama, horizontally   
compressed to fit your browser.     
  
As the Earth rotated,   
stars appeared to circle both the South  
Celestial Pole, on the  
left, and the   
North Celestial Pole,   
which occurs just below the horizon on the right.    
  
  
The   
above image   
captured the sky over   
Mudgee,   
New South Wales,   
Australia,   
including the domes of two large telescopes artificially lit by red light.  
  
A horizontally unwarped image is visible by clicking on the above image.    
  
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: star trail
Publications with words: star trail
See also:
