Star Trails over El Capitan
Image Credit & Copyright:
Michael Bolte (UCSC)
Towering 3,000 feet from base to summit, the
famous granite face of El
Capitan in Earth's
Yosemite
National Park just hides the planet's
north celestial pole in this skyscape.
Of course, the north celestial pole
is at the center of all the star trails.
Their short arcs reflecting the planet's daily
rotation on its axis
are traced in a digital stack of 36 sequential exposures.
Linear trails of passing airplane navigation lights and a
flare from car lights along the road below are
also captured in the sequential stack.
But the punctuated trail of light seen against the sheer
El Capitan itself follows a climbing team on the night of November 8, 2013.
The team is ascending toward the summit along
The Nose,
a historic rock climbing route.