                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 April 7

                                A Path North
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Konang

   Explanation: What happens if you keep going north? The direction north
   on the Earth, the place on your horizon below the northern spin pole of
   the Earth -- around which other stars appear to slowly swirl, will
   remain the same. This spin-pole-of-the-north will never move from its
   fixed location on the sky -- night or day -- and its height will always
   match your latitude. The further north you go, the higher the north
   spin pole will appear. Eventually, if you can reach the Earth's North
   Pole, the stars will circle a point directly over your head. Pictured,
   a four-hour long stack of images shows stars trailing in circles around
   this north celestial pole. The bright star near the north celestial
   pole is Polaris, known as the North Star. The bright path was created
   by the astrophotographer's headlamp as he zigzagged up a hill just over
   a week ago in Lower Saxony, Germany. The astrophotographer can be seen,
   at times, in shadow. Actually, the Earth has two spin poles -- and much
   the same would happen if you started below the Earth's equator and went
   south.

                    Tomorrow's picture: contrasting skies
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