Sky Full of SARs

Sky Full of Arcs

Image Credit &
Copyright:

Rory Gannaway

Explanation:

On August 11 a
Rocket Lab Electron rocket launched
from a rotating planet.

With a small satellite on board its
mission was dubbed
A Sky Full of SARs
(Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites),
departing for low Earth orbit
from Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s north island.

The fiery trace of the Electron’s graceful launch arc is
toward the east in this southern sea and skyscape,
a composite of 50 consecutive frames taken over 2.5 hours.

Fixed to a tripod, the camera was pointing directly at the
South Celestial Pole, the extension of planet Earth’s axis of rotation
in to space.

But no bright star
marks that location in the southern hemisphere’s night sky.

Still, the South
Celestial
Pole is easy to spot.

It lies at the center of the
concentric star trail arcs that fill the skyward field of view.