Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2022 July 28 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. North Celestial Tree Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Jeff Dai ([5]TWAN) Explanation: An ancient tree seems to reach out and touch Earth's [6]North Celestial Pole in this well-planned night skyscape. Consecutive exposures for the timelapse composition were recorded with a camera fixed to a tripod [7]in the Yiwu Desert Poplar Forests in northwest Xinjiang, China. The graceful star trail arcs reflect Earth's daily rotation around its axis. By extension, the axis of rotation leads to the center of the concentric arcs [8]in the night sky. Known as the North Star, [9]bright star Polaris is a friend to northern hemisphere night sky photographers and celestial navigators alike. That's because Polaris lies very close to the North Celestial Pole on the sky. [10]Of course it can be found at the tip of an outstretched barren branch in a postcard from a rotating planet. Tomorrow's picture: aurora australis __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC, [31]NASA Science Activation & [32]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2207/AncientTreeNCP_Dai.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. http://www.twanight.org/Dai 5. http://www.twanight.org/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120712.html 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJOztGLSWcU 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130920.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110514.html 10. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1944/what-is-the-north-star-and-how-do-you-find-it/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220727.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220728 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220729.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 32. http://www.mtu.edu/