Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2026 August 28
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                         The Sky Turns Above Paranal
              Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Osvaldo Castillo

   Explanation: At the latitude of ESO's [5]Paranal Observatory in Chile,
   about 25 degrees south, [6]Earth's rotation moves the planet's surface
   eastward at over 1,500 kilometers per hour. And while that's faster
   than the [7]speed of sound at sea level, the motion is
   [8]imperceptible. Still, that motion can be revealed in the [9]apparent
   rotation of the night sky by [10]photographing star trails. This star
   trail image was composed from a digital stack of 300 consecutive
   25-second exposures made with a camera fixed to a tripod to trace the
   star trail arcs. The graceful arcs are concentric and centered at the
   south [11]celestial pole, the southern hemisphere extension of Earth's
   axis of rotation into space. One of the observatory's operating 1.8
   meter auxiliary telescopes, [12]AT 3, appears beneath the south
   celestial pole, faintly illuminated in the foreground of this
   well-planned scene from a rotating planet.

       APOD's main NASA site is [13]moving: From [14]apod.nasa.gov to
                          [15]science.nasa.gov/apod
                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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      Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([29]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply.
            [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility, [33]Notices;
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC,
                         [37]NASA Science Activation
                           & [38]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2608/TheSkyTurnsAboveParanal.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/odlavso/
   5. https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070819.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070519.html
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/stars-in-motion-147990/
  10. https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightscaper/posts/4166288700348691/
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/learn/basics-of-space-flight/chapter2-2/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240504.html
  13. https://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=45023
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/
  15. https://science.nasa.gov/apod
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260827.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260828
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260829.html
  27. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/
  28. https://www.mtu.edu/physics
  29. https://www.astro.umd.edu/
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  38. http://www.mtu.edu/