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Astronomy Picture of the Day 3-07-03
NASA ^ | 3-07-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

Posted on 03/06/2003 10:25:28 PM PST by petuniasevan

Astronomy Picture of the Day

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.

2003 March 7
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.

The Star Trails of Kilimanjaro
Credit & Copyright: Dan Heller

Explanation: The night had no moon, but the stars were out. And camped at 16,000 feet on Mt. Kilimanjaro, photographer Dan Heller recorded this marvelous 3 1/2 hour long exposure. Here the landscape is lit mostly by the stars. Flashlights give the tents an erie internal radiance while the greenish glow of distant city lights filters through the clouds below. The view from this famous equatorial African mountain is toward the north, putting Polaris, the pole star, close to the horizon on the far left, near the center of the graceful concentric star trail arcs. In the thin air and clear dark skies, even the ghostly Milky Way left a faint triangular glow as it swept across the middle of the dreamlike scene.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: africa; altitude; exposure; image; kilimanjaro; milkyway; mountain; photography; star; stars; timed; trails
Remember that Toto song, "Africa"?

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti


1 posted on 03/06/2003 10:25:29 PM PST by petuniasevan
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To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...

2 posted on 03/06/2003 10:27:03 PM PST by petuniasevan (Wonders of the Universe)
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To: petuniasevan
Awesome!
3 posted on 03/06/2003 10:30:19 PM PST by MozartLover
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To: MozartLover; petuniasevan
Mozart took the words right out of my mouth...totally fantabulous! :)
4 posted on 03/06/2003 10:45:50 PM PST by Freedom2specul8 (Please pray for our troops.... http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/)
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To: petuniasevan
very cool, thank you!
5 posted on 03/06/2003 11:18:56 PM PST by herewego
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To: petuniasevan
You can see more square miles of land atop Kilimanjaro than any place else on earth.
6 posted on 03/06/2003 11:48:13 PM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
Does anyone venture to guess where the second most amount of land mass can be seen from?
7 posted on 03/06/2003 11:54:14 PM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
Um...

Mount Erebus, Antarctica?
8 posted on 03/07/2003 12:01:29 AM PST by petuniasevan (cogito, ergo spud: I think, therefore I yam...)
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To: WSGilcrest
Oh. Waitaminute. I'm from California; I used to live in the Sacramento Valley.

If you go to the Bay Area and climb Mt. Diablo (not even a tall mountain!), you can see forever, it seems. That's the place!
9 posted on 03/07/2003 12:16:36 AM PST by petuniasevan (cogito, ergo spud: I think, therefore I yam...)
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To: petuniasevan
BRAVO!!




[verdant hills]From the summit (on a clear day) viewers can see more land than a nywhere else in the world except Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro. Among the sometimes-visible landmarks are Lassen Peak, 185 miles north; the Sierra Nevada Range, 125 miles west; and the San Joaquin Valley, 60 miles to the south. Even the Farallon Islands, 27 miles from San Francisco's shore, can be spotted. Altogether over 40,000 square miles are visible, including 35 of the state's 58 counties.

10 posted on 03/07/2003 1:05:30 AM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
the Sierra Nevada Range, 125 miles west

EAST!
11 posted on 03/07/2003 1:11:02 AM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
Yeah...west would make them the Sierra Seamount. ;-D
12 posted on 03/07/2003 1:23:48 AM PST by petuniasevan (cogito, ergo spud: I think, therefore I yam...)
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To: petuniasevan
Very nice . . .


13 posted on 03/07/2003 1:28:51 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Saddam! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)
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To: WSGilcrest; petuniasevan
Montana? . . .
14 posted on 03/07/2003 1:31:42 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Saddam! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)
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To: MeeknMing
El Diablo! About 1/2hr. east of SF.
15 posted on 03/07/2003 4:03:43 AM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: petuniasevan
Good morning
16 posted on 03/07/2003 4:38:02 AM PST by firewalk
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To: petuniasevan
Fantastic!


17 posted on 03/07/2003 5:12:05 AM PST by Soaring Feather
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To: petuniasevan; MeeknMing
This picture is awesome. I'm in awe! My dad climbed Kilimanjaro.
18 posted on 03/07/2003 6:05:25 AM PST by SpookBrat
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To: SpookBrat
Wow ! I'm in awe too . . .

Mornin' !!

19 posted on 03/07/2003 7:08:35 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Saddam! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)
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To: petuniasevan
What a phenominal photo! It looks so surreal, almost alien, like something culled from a sci-fi site.

The starshine reflecting off the TOP of the clouds is something rarely seen...
20 posted on 03/07/2003 9:05:54 AM PST by mikrofon (Pax Americana)
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