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Credit & Copyright: Wang Jinglei, Jia Hao
Explanation:
In myth,
Atlas holds up the heavens.
But in this moonlit mountainscape, peaks of the
Himalayan
Annapurna Range
appear to prop up the sky as seen from Ghandruk, Nepal.
From left to right the three main peaks are Annapurna South (7,219 meters),
Hiunchuli (6,441 metes), and
Machapuchare
(6,995 meters).
Of course
the mountains are moving not the stars,
the Earth's rotation
about its axis causing the concentric star trails recorded in the
time exposure.
Positioned above Annapurna South, the
North Celestial Pole is easily identified
as the point at the center of all the star trail arcs.
The star Polaris, also known as the
North Star, made the very short and
bright arc closest to the North Celestial Pole.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day