A new long-exposure photograph illustrates the effects of Earth's rotation from the perspective of the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Located at a latitude of 25 degrees south, the site experiences surface movement exceeding 1,500 kilometers per hour, a speed that surpasses the sound barrier at sea level despite being undetectable to human senses.
To visualize this motion, photographers captured 300 consecutive 25-second exposures using a stationary camera. The resulting image features concentric arcs of light created by the movement of stars across the night sky. These trails are centered on the south celestial pole, which serves as the southern projection of Earth’s rotational axis.
The composition also highlights one of the facility’s 1.8-meter auxiliary telescopes, known as AT 3. The telescope is visible in the foreground, subtly illuminated beneath the celestial pole.
Source: NASA
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