APOD: As Above, So Below (2011 Dec 03)

[APOD Robot]

As Above, So Below

Explanation: A single, long exposure captured these star trails above a remarkably colorful sea of clouds. As seen from Medvednica mountain, the surrounding peaks and lights illuminating the clouds from below are north of Zagreb, Croatia. Near the center of the also colorful star trail arcs, the North Celestial Pole is off the upper right edge of the frame. Even though this is the age of the digital camera, the well composed skyscape was recorded using color slide film in a medium format camera. The dreamlike scene's starry sky and ephemeral ocean could be reminiscent of an older age still, when the Pannonian Sea covered this part of central Europe some 10 million years ago.

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[Beyond]

NICE picture! But for some reason, i feel cold looking at it. BRRR....

[orin stepanek]

I liked the picture; I think I would like it better without the star trails.

[moonstruck]

Very nice. Thanks, Boris.

[Ann]

I liked the picture, too, and I liked the title. There have been a few excellent videos (or vimeos) posted here at APOD which have shown clouds moving over the Earth like water. And no surprise there, since clouds on the Earth are water.

Today's APOD shows a suspended "ocean" over the Earth, and colorful lights above and below it. The star trails are okay with me, since they bring home the fact that something is moving here. Or as Galileo Galilei supposedly said, "And yet it moves".

Ann

[spudcon2@yahoo.com]

This isn't a single exposure picture. Several stars or planets near the horizon have no star trails.

[Chris Peterson]

This isn't a single exposure picture. Several stars or planets near the horizon have no star trails.

I don't see any. All I see near the horizon that is untrailed are lights on the ground. There's nothing at all to suggest this image isn't just what it is presented as- a single exposure on film.

[geckzilla]

Yeesh, how could the mountains be invisible to spud? Bad vision? Looking at the picture from a laptop in the midday sun?

[alter-ego]

Yeesh, how could the mountains be invisible to spud? Bad vision? Looking at the picture from a laptop in the midday sun?

Well, hold on a sec. Let me play devil's advocate here (that's rare I do this!) and say that one of those lights could conceivably be the start of a star trail that became blocked by a mountain. Fortuitous for sure, and judging by the sky conditions would have to be pretty bright. Well, I accurately identified the star field which is Cygnus on the left (Deneb is the bright star), and Draco on the right (the head of the dragon is just visible). Alas, there are no suitably bright stars or planets that can generate a snubbed star trail simulating a ground light.

So much for being the advocate

[Chris Peterson]

Yeesh, how could the mountains be invisible to spud? Bad vision? Looking at the picture from a laptop in the midday sun?

Well, hold on a sec. Let me play devil's advocate here (that's rare I do this!) and say that one of those lights could conceivably be the start of a star trail that became blocked by a mountain. Fortuitous for sure, and judging by the sky conditions would have to be pretty bright. Well, I accurately identified the star field which is Cygnus on the left (Deneb is the bright star), and Draco on the right (the head of the dragon is just visible). Alas, there are no suitably bright stars or planets that can generate a snubbed star trail simulating a ground light.

So much for being the advocate :)

But even if one were a star, captured for a much shorter time because it had been blocked, that wouldn't support the suggestion that this isn't a single long exposure.

[alter-ego]

Yeesh, how could the mountains be invisible to spud? Bad vision? Looking at the picture from a laptop in the midday sun?

Well, hold on a sec. Let me play devil's advocate here (that's rare I do this!) and say that one of those lights could conceivably be the start of a star trail that became blocked by a mountain. Fortuitous for sure, and judging by the sky conditions would have to be pretty bright. Well, I accurately identified the star field which is Cygnus on the left (Deneb is the bright star), and Draco on the right (the head of the dragon is just visible). Alas, there are no suitably bright stars or planets that can generate a snubbed star trail simulating a ground light.

So much for being the advocate

But even if one were a star, captured for a much shorter time because it had been blocked, that wouldn't support the suggestion that this isn't a single long exposure.

That's certainly true, no question. I became intriqued with the certainty that all the lights were ground lights. I had already dismissed the single-exposure question.

[hooptydoo]

Cooooool! Like lasagna - layer upon layer but sugary!

[saturn2]

Very interesting image

[sea otter]

The star trails of a prolonged exposure remind me that 'the only constant is change'.