Mars rounds Polaris.
February 6th, 2010
The sky was very clear the other night, perfect for star trails! Mars is the very bright streak on the right side of the above photo. I got really lucky with this first image! In the upper left corner you can barely see three faint streaks running perpendicular to the stars. (Right click to view a slightly larger image.) I am not sure exactly what they are but they took approximately 90 seconds to travel the recorded paths. (Maybe iridium flares from orbiting satellites?) Below you can see Polaris at the center of the star trails. It looks like a stationary point but it is not true celestial North so there is a little bit of wobble.
Scott these are great shots. Gotta love the star trails, really makes you think about how small WE are compared to everything around us.
Hi Ken! Thank you for the comment. YES!! My sentiments exactly. Human kind (as we know it to be) is quite tiny in relation to the rest of the Universe around us – Dr. Carl Sagan is my hero.