北天极与古树

2022年7月28日

North Celestial Tree
Image Credit & Copyright: Jeff Dai (TWAN)

Explanation: An ancient tree seems to reach out and touch Earth’s North Celestial Pole in this well-planned night skyscape. Consecutive exposures for the timelapse composition were recorded with a camera fixed to a tripod in the Yiwu Desert Poplar Forests in northwest Xinjiang, China. The graceful star trail arcs reflect Earth’s daily rotation around its axis. By extension, the axis of rotation leads to the center of the concentric arcs in the night sky. Known as the North Star, bright star Polaris is a friend to northern hemisphere night sky photographers and celestial navigators alike. That’s because Polaris lies very close to the North Celestial Pole on the sky. Of course it can be found at the tip of an outstretched barren branch in a postcard from a rotating planet.

Tomorrow’s picture: aurora australis

北天极与古树
影像提供与版权: Jeff Dai（戴建峰） (TWAN)

说明: 在这幅精心规划的夜空景观里，一棵古树看似向上伸展并触及地球的北天极。组成这幅缩时影像的连续曝光照片，则是使用固定在三脚架上的相机，摄于中国新疆西北部的伊吾胡杨林之内。影像里优美的恒星迹线弧，反映了地球每天绕轴自转的事实。而自转轴的延伸，则穿过向夜空中这些同心圆弧的中心。名为指北星的明亮北极星，是北半球星空摄影者及依靠星空导航者的良友。这是因为北极星在天空的位置，非常接近北天极。是以在这张来自旋转行星的明信片里，它就位在这只干枯树枝的尖端。

明日的图片: aurora australis