The Celestial Equator

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The Celestial Equator

[Public Domain] 20 Sep 2014 Dylan O'Donnell
CATEGORY : Astrophotography
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I took this timelapse in the yard while I was imaging M22 and M8 over about 4 hours. As the earth spins on it’s axis, the stars appear to rotate around the north and south celestial poles. In the middle of these is the celestial equator. Notice how the top stars curve up, and the bottom ones down? If you can find the stars in between them in a perfectly straight line – you’ve found the celestial equator!

In that line is where geosynchronous satellites live, so your neighbors satellite internet or TV dish is most likely pointed along it.

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