The rotation of the Earth makes the stars appear to travel in circles around the celestial poles (counterclockwise in this picture). At the celestial equator, a star appears to travel 1 degree in about 4 minutes. Closer to the poles, stars appear to move more slowly. The bright star in the center of the picture is Polaris, the North Star, which is located within 1 degree of the true pole. The seven trails an inch from the top and slightly to the left of center are the Big Dipper. The bright trail on the right is the star Vega, and the white trail in the lower left is Capella. The lights below the horizon are from passing cars.

You could probably take a picture like this, as long as you have a camera with a 'B' or 'T' setting and a locking shutter release cable. However, the lens used here is a fisheye. Note that this picture was taken at an extremely dark site.

• Title: Desert Trails
• Lens: Sigma 16mm @ f/5.6
• Field of View: 180° corner-to-corner
• Exposure: 100 minutes
• Mount: Fixed Tripod
• Camera: Olympus OM-1
• Film: Kodak Ektachrome 64
• Location: Desert Center, CA
• Date: 26 April 2000
• Conditions: 6.5+ LVM, some suspended dust.
• Processing: PowerLook 3000, Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1, SGBNR