Star trails over Chiso Mountains

Very cool shot Dave! Wow, this took a long time to construct. Great job! Celebrate life, Debra
PS The folks that gave this less than a 10 have no clue as to what you put into this shot! Keep 'em coming, I appreciate you!

Now let me ask you a question. Is it the atmosphere that causes the slight distortion of the star trails so that the ones on the far left appear to be bending a little left while the ones on the right are definitely bending right?

I agree with trigirl Debra. This has got to be a very intensive piece of work. Congratulations and a 10+ from me.

I think it is unusual and beautiful. 10 from me, congratulations!

Well done!!!

Wow this is amazing!!! We are all rewarded by your passion for photography! What fun it must have been to set this up, and how delighted you must have felt when you saw your excellent results! (You must have felt like hopping up and down with glee!)

Amazing!!!! I love the foreground and how sharp it remains as the stars trail...... why this isn't a full blown 10+ is beyond me. I give it a 10+ for sure!!!!

Beautiful and creative work!

Looks amazing! Congratulations on the AC!

So cool! Love the flashlight idea!

I would give it more than 10 if I could! COOL!

WOW. I can confirm that the bending trails is due to the 10mm lens distortion. With a normal lens star trails are always circular, unless something is really, really wrong with the planet that day. :-) Great work, congratulations.

Thank you! Photo favorite of mine.

Actually, the extreme wide angle of the lens causes the effect of the diverging star trails (left and right), but it's not really a "distortion." The straightest trails are from stars that lie on or near the celestial equator. Stars north of the equator will curve around the North Pole, while those south of it will curve around the South Pole. This view is apparently to the southeast--the South celestial pole is below the horizon to the lower right of the image, while the North celestial pole is high in the sky but out of the upper left part of the frame.

The trails in actuality are all parallel, even those that seem to go one way and those going the other. It's the same sort of thing as latitude lines on a globe, but here we are "seeing" the lines from inside the globe. The wide-angle lens emphasizes the effect.

WOW!!!! 10+ from the Platte County Judge!! Good job!

very ,very beautiful shot!

Unbelievable! This certainly deserves a AC!

10+ here. Great work.

The thing I like about star trails (and they are my forte) is that people are always surprised by the paths in the sky. Canyon42 gave the best explanation of what is seen. I think explaining that the trails are parallel might be misleading, though. A view due north in the Northern Hemisphere will show concentric circles. Here is an example:

Just gorgeous, darnold!
I absolutely love the image, and I enjoyed the explanations of the curvature of the star paths in the comments too. Your flashlight on the foreground bushes adds nice elements of color & composition. Really interesting. Thanks for sharing. :)

Great shot Dave!
I particularly like the way the stars in the upper left become "counter concentric". I'm assuming you used a pretty wide angle lens.
Was this about a 30 minute exposure?

A 10 & favorite!

Very awesome! Thanks for sharing.

I believe there is a correction function in photoshop designated for specific wide angle lenses that would eliminate the distortion if desired. Wonderful composition.

AWESOME! Truly unique!

Totally captivating. Yep, its a 10.

Happy to hear you enjoy New Mexico and the Southwest. There is so much beauty.

A great deal of work on your part but worth it, superb shot & very AC worthy. I have thought about doing something similar at places like Glastonbury Tor
or Burrow Mump

something for the future perhaps.

Mother Nature provided the props and you creatively organized and capture them..Good on ya Dave.

I'm not sure if the stars curving are from the rotation of the Earth or what

You are bang on. It is the rotation of the earth that gives the ark effect as the stars seem to change location in degrees. From your perspective on earth, they seem to go around the earth.

How did you combine the shots together? It is a truly awesome shot.

Very cool shot... Could you actually see this with
the naked eye or is it all in the photography?
Very cool either way... as in #20 above.

A technical and aesthetic achievement - a great photo for science class.