Star Trails and Lightning over the Pyrenees
Image Credit & Copyright:
Marc Sellés Llimós
The beauty in this image comes in layers.
On the bottom layer is the picturesque village of
Manlleu in
Barcelona,
Spain.
The six-minute exposure makes car lights into streaks.
The next layer is a mountain -- Serra de Bellmunt -- of Europe's famous
Pyrenees.
Next up is a
tremendous lightning storm emanating from a classically-shaped
anvil cloud.
The long exposure allowed for the capture of many intricate
lightning bolts.
Finally, at the top and furthest in the distance are
stars.
Here, the multi-minute exposure made stars into
trails.
The trailing effect is caused by the rotation of the Earth, and the
curvature of the trails indicates their distance from the
north spin pole of the Earth above.
Taken after sunset in early June, the
lightning storm soon moved off.
The stars, though, will continue to
circle the pole for as long as the
Earth spins -- surely billions of years into the future.