July 15, 2000
The same forces that sculpt nebulae and spin galaxies into existence were at work the day you were born.
Star Trails In Southern Skies
Birthday · July 15, 2000
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APOD published July 15, 2000. Credit: Anglo-Australian Observatory. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
As the Earth spins on its axis, the stars seem to rotate around us. This motion produces the beautiful concentric arcs traced out by the stars in this time exposure of the southern hemisphere night sky. In the foreground is the dome of the Anglo-Australian Telescope in central New South Wales, Australia. In the middle of the picture is the South Celestial Pole, the projection of Earth's axis of rotation into the southern sky. While the bright star Polaris lies conveniently close to the North Celestial Pole, no bright star similarly marks the pole in the south. Still, the South Celestial Pole is easily identified in the picture as the point in the sky at the center of all the star trail arcs.
Image credit: Anglo-Australian Observatory