|
Star Trails |
Welcome to http://www.handsonuniverse.org/activities/Explorations/StarTrails
|
Star Trails |
....Except for Polaris, our "pole star"!
 |
Which is the star that looks like a point instead of a trail? When you find it you have found our North Star, Polaris. The stars of Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper, are in the first two of these photos. |
As Earth turns, the sky appears to rotate above us. If we photograph the
stars with a long time exposure we can capture the apparent turning of the sky. Looking
north, the star trails sweep counterclockwise around Polaris. The longer the camera
shutter stays open, the longer the star trails become.
The stars of Cygnus the Swan (also called the Northern Cross) and Lyra the Harp also
arc with circumpolar star trails. The two brightest stars in this photo are Deneb in
Cygnus and Vega in Lyra. Notice the difference in the colors of the stars!
01/24/2000
* HOU™ Explorations *
