Stars trails over La Silla

A combined series of nighttime exposures captures these impressive star trails over ESO’s La Silla observatory. The stars appear as trails because of the apparent daily motion of the sky, which is, in fact, due to the rotation of the Earth on its own axis. At the centre of the image, in the foreground, is the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, while in the background the NTT and the ESO 3.6-metre telescope are seen. On the right in the distance is the SEST. The picture is taken looking toward the east. The celestial south pole is not seen in the picture, but the direction is toward the upper right. The celestial equator is seen from the upper left corner, down to the ground. The trail of an aircraft is seen over the horizon.