Message posted by Bill T. on April 14, 2005 at 8:42:08 PST:

Hiyas.
As suggested, the dots are strobing aircraft 'anti-collision' lights - the time-exposure photograph has captured each flash in turn...

It looks like 10 dots in the picture, so if the strobe was flashing once every 2 seconds, that was a 20-second time exposure.

You can also (just) notice that the stars are 'trailing', and during the time exposure the Earth has rotated a few degrees - You can see the stars arcing about a point (behind the pine tree).

Anyone with a 20 or 30 second (or 'B') time-exposure setting on their camera can try a similar picture, better if the camera is static rather than hand-held...
With dark skies, the star's trails can look wonderful!
(The various star colours can also be seen, especially if the lens is carefully 'de-focussed' during the exposure!)

Astro-photo websites will have many examples.

Cheers,
Bill T. (UK)

In Reply to: What is this in this picture? posted by Kris Hull on April 13, 2005 at 21:12:28 PST:

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