star trail

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
Star trails.

Noun

[edit]

star trail (plural star trails)

  1. (astronomy, photography) The line of light recorded on a photographic medium when a time exposure is made of a star in the nighttime sky using a camera on a fixed mount, caused by the rotation of the earth during the period of time when the camera's shutter is held open.
    • 2001, Eric DeBolt, “Happy Trails”, in Astronomy, volume 29, number 7, page 74:
      The idea behind photographing star trails is wonderfully simple. Just take your old mechanical camera, point it skyward, and leave the shutter open.

Usage notes

[edit]
  • Usually used in the plural form.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  • "star trail" at Zoom Astronomy Dictionary, ©1999-2008 EnchantedLearning.com.