APOD: Star Trails in the North (2010 Dec 24)

[APOD Robot]

Star Trails in the North

Explanation: Pointing skyward, the wall of this ruined Viking church still stands after a thousand winters, near the town of Vallentuna, Sweden. The time exposure records the scene on December 14th as stars leave graceful arcing trails during a long night, reflecting planet Earth's daily rotation on its axis. The Earth's axis points toward Polaris, the North Star, near the center of the concentric trails. Welcomed by skygazers on this winter's night, a bright meteor from the annual Geminid meteor shower also flashes through the frame. The meteor cuts across the star trails just above the lower church wall. Contributing to the beautiful composition, meteor streak and church apex both gesture toward the North Celestial Pole.

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[owlice]

What a beautiful image this is! So cold and still and silent; I can almost feel the bite of chill air in my nose and see my breath.

[bystander]

... So cold and still and silent; I can almost feel the bite of chill air in my nose and see my breath.

Go back inside.

[León]

To say that a picture is perfect, should display this

[Bo Jensen]

Thanks for APOD's beautiful photos!
With this photo one could ask the audience: Looking at the polaris star, which way does the sky turn around?
Surprisingly many people will be unable to answer this question, and the photo itself gives no hints. But of course it is in the counter-clockwise direction - the sun rises in the east, etc.
One thing more often not mentioned is the cause of the location of meteor showers. The Geminids, for example, have their radiant near Castor and Pollux. Why is it so? You seldom see anyone explain that. But isn't that because that's exacty the point of dirction of the Earth's path through the cosmos? Compare with the way you see snowflakes coming towards you when driwing a car.
Kind regards,
Bo Jensen
Copenhagen
bo-jensen@tdcadsl.dk
http://www.bojensen.net

[orin stepanek]

I liked this picture of Polaris! http://blog.deepskycolors.com/archive/2 ... -Pole.html

[NoelC]

What a beautiful shot!

I've always been impressed that there are so few bright stars right around Polaris.

One thing more often not mentioned is the cause of the location of meteor showers. The Geminids, for example, have their radiant near Castor and Pollux. Why is it so? You seldom see anyone explain that. But isn't that because that's exacty the point of dirction of the Earth's path through the cosmos? Compare with the way you see snowflakes coming towards you when driwing a car.

I always thought the radiants for the various meteor showers must also be influenced by the direction of the orbit of the comet that left the particles that become the meteors, though to be honest I've never done the 3D analysis to see if that's true. It would be interesting to hear from others on this subject.

-Noel

[Roamin' Catholic]

It's a great photo, as are virtually all of the APOD shots, and I have to say in advance that I love the site, it's a wonderful resource.

However, and maybe I'm being overly-sensitive here, but putting up a picture of a ruined Catholic church on Christmas Eve... is that the smartest thing to do? Or does it imply a certain lack of respect for the holiday?

Let me explain... some of us APOD fans are actually (gasp) Christians, and worse yet, some are even (horrors) Catholics, so to us, the image of a ruined church is less picturesque than it is tragic. A suggestion: maybe in the future we could avoid images implying a triumph of science over religion on the big holy days, days that still retain a deeper meaning for those us who still have the faith?

Merry Christmas!

[Chris Peterson]

One thing more often not mentioned is the cause of the location of meteor showers. The Geminids, for example, have their radiant near Castor and Pollux. Why is it so? You seldom see anyone explain that. But isn't that because that's exacty the point of dirction of the Earth's path through the cosmos? Compare with the way you see snowflakes coming towards you when driwing a car.

I think the concept of the radiant is explained fairly often when the subject of meteor showers comes up. Indeed, the analogy of driving in a snowstorm is commonly seen.

Note, however, that the radiant isn't defined purely by the direction the Earth is moving, but by the vector sum of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, rotation on its axis, and the orbital parameters of the meteoroids. The resulting radiant can be very far from the point in the sky that defines the apex of Earth's motion.

[Chris Peterson]

Let me explain... some of us APOD fans are actually (gasp) Christians, and worse yet, some are even (horrors) Catholics, so to us, the image of a ruined church is less picturesque than it is tragic. A suggestion: maybe in the future we could avoid images implying a triumph of science over religion on the big holy days, days that still retain a deeper meaning for those us who still have the faith?

I don't see how a ruined church is in any way disrespectful, or how it represents a triumph of science over religion, or even how it is tragic. If it represents anything, it is the triumph of time over everything, especially the ephemeral creations of Man.

To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal ...
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

[neufer]

Some of us APOD fans are actually (gasp) Christians, and worse yet, some are even (horrors) Catholics,
so to us, the image of a ruined church is less picturesque than it is tragic.

Apollo 15 picture of Ansgarius crater. Part of La Perouse crater is visible along the left margin, and half of Behaim crater at the bottom right. The selenographic coordinates of this image are 13° S, 79° E.

---

<<Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, (September 8, 801 – February 3, 865*, in Bremen) was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen who became known as the "Apostle of the North". In in response to a 829 request from the Swedish king Björn, Ansgar was appointed missionary to Sweden. With an assistant, the friar Witmar, he preached and made converts for six months at Birka, on Lake Mälaren. They organized a small congregation there with the king's steward, Hergeir. Oscar spent another two years there (848-850), at the critical moment when a pagan reaction was threatened. In 854 Ansgar returned to Sweden for the new king Olof. On a Viking raid to Apuole in Courland, the Swedes prayed, and with God's help they plundered the Curonians.

Ansgar became the patron saint of Denmark and a crater on the Moon, Ansgarius, has been named for him. Ansgarius crater is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. When viewed from the Earth, the crater has a highly oval shape due to foreshortening, but the rim is actually nearly circular. The rim of Ansgarius is not significantly worn, and has a terraced interior surface. The southwest rim appears somewhat flattened rather than round, and intrudes into an older formation of which little remains except the western rim. There is an outward notch in the north-northeastern wall. The interior floor of Ansgarius is relatively flat, with only tiny craterlets to mark the surface.>>

[bystander]

I don't see how a ruined church is in any way disrespectful, or how it represents a triumph of science over religion, or even how it is tragic. If it represents anything, it is the triumph of time over everything, especially the ephemeral creations of Man.

[

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

• To everything there is a season,
  a time for every purpose under the sun.
  A time to be born and a time to die;
  a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
  a time to kill and a time to heal ...
  a time to weep and a time to laugh;
  a time to mourn and a time to dance ...
  a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
  a time to lose and a time to seek;
  a time to rend and a time to sew;
  a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
  a time to love and a time to hate;
  a time for war and a time for peace.
  
  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

... a time for peace, I swear it's not too late

[owlice]

It's a great photo, as are virtually all of the APOD shots, and I have to say in advance that I love the site, it's a wonderful resource.

However, and maybe I'm being overly-sensitive here, but putting up a picture of a ruined Catholic church on Christmas Eve... is that the smartest thing to do? Or does it imply a certain lack of respect for the holiday?

Let me explain... some of us APOD fans are actually (gasp) Christians, and worse yet, some are even (horrors) Catholics, so to us, the image of a ruined church is less picturesque than it is tragic. A suggestion: maybe in the future we could avoid images implying a triumph of science over religion on the big holy days, days that still retain a deeper meaning for those us who still have the faith?

Merry Christmas!

I don't see any disrespect here! Doesn't it show the persistence of faith? Faith is not dependent on a building; Christmas is still celebrated despite churches falling into ruin. I'm astonished that someone could possibly think this image tragic.

I think this is a beautiful photo for any time, including, maybe even especially, Christmas Eve.

[biddie67]

This is an awesome photograph - the time-proven star trails and the walls of the old church create a serene and beautiful scene.

[NoelC]

maybe I'm being overly-sensitive here

Yes, you are. Faith tells us not to worship objects.

Any material constructions Man has created are but dust in the vastness of the beautiful cosmos.

-Noel

[neufer]

maybe I'm being overly-sensitive here

Yes, you are. Faith tells us not to worship objects.
Any material constructions Man has created are but dust...

<<The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian: بت های باميان - but hay-e bamiyan) were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters. Built in 507 CE, the larger in 554 CE, the statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. The two most prominent statues were the giant standing Buddhas Vairocana and Sakyamuni, identified by the different mudras performed, measuring 55 and 37 metres high respectively, the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world.

The Taliban government decreed that the statues, which had survived for over 1,500 years, were idolatrous. They were intentionally dynamited and destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, after the Taliban government declared that they were "idols" (which are forbidden under Sharia law).

During the destruction, Taliban Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal lamented that, "this work of destruction is not as simple as people might think. You can't knock down the statues by shelling as both are carved into a cliff; they are firmly attached to the mountain." After one of the explosions failed to completely obliterate the face of one of the Buddhas, a rocket was launched which left a hole in the remains of the stone head.>>