Spinning Around the North Star

I left work today and realized the sky was perfectly clear and there was only a sliver of moon. At first I wanted to attempt another earthshine photo, but quickly realized that wasn't working out nicely. It may only work best rising in the morning rather than setting in the evening, I have to think more about the geometry to find the best time. For some stupid reason I love being out with my telescope in the freezing cold. Maybe because it's that much quieter and peaceful out, because all the sane people are warm and indoors.

I've enjoyed the recent star trail pictures, especially the ones where the curve in the northern sky is really evident, so tonight I wanted to get the full circular motion around Polaris.

35 exposures, 30 second shutter, iso 1000, f3.5

And even though earthshine was a no go it's hard to pass up a picture of the moon.