Warped Sky: Star Trails Panorama
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright: 
Peter Ward
		
		
			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.