Southampton at Night

“Southampton at Night” – Star Trails photographed at the iconic Southampton Lighthouse.

This image can also be titled “Watching the World Goes Around”. Due to the Earth’s rotation, at night looking north, all stars revolve around the celestial north pole, the point in the sky that the Earth’s rotational axis goes through. Polaris, or the North Star, is the star closest to this point. The celestial north pole is just off the top edge of this image..

This image combined 11 exposures of 15 minutes each for a total exposure time of 2 hours 45 minutes. The last exposure extended into the morning twilight, providing the blue colour in the sky.