View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Rui Santos in Amor, Leiria, Portugal, shared this composite image of star trails on February 16, 2025, and wrote: ” We can’t feel it, but everything is in motion. Everything moves, even when it seems still. And nature is never the same twice, it is constantly changing, in a vivid and silent way.” Thank you, Rui!
What are star trails?
Star trails show the motion of the stars over the sky during a period of minutes or hours. With a steady mount, long exposures and a few other tricks, you can take images of star trails, too. Often, the camera stays pointed at Polaris, the North Pole Star. In the Southern Hemisphere, photographs can point at the south celestial pole (not marked by a single star). Then, with an open shutter, the camera records an image as Earth turns on its axis and the stars move overhead. There are also many variations on star trail photos, as you’ll see here!
Star trails reflect Earth’s rotation, or spin, around its axis. The Earth makes a complete rotation relative to the backdrop stars in a period of about 23 hours and 56 minutes. So, as seen from Earth, all the stars go full circle and return to the same place in the sky after this period of time. This revolution with respect to the stars is what astronomers call a sidereal day.
Earth’s spin makes star trails
What this means is that, if you’re standing out under the stars, you see them move across the sky as the night progresses. The stars – like the sun during the daytime – move from east to west across the sky every night.
Stars near the celestial poles produce the smallest circles, while those near the celestial equator produce the largest. Each and every star moves 15 degrees westward in one hour.
Star trails are really arcs, or partial circles, whose ever-circling motions forever tabulate the passage of time.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jeff Grubbs in Elgin, Arizona, took a long-exposure photo of the northern sky on May 22, 2025. It shows all the stars circling around Polaris, the North Star (or Pole Star). Thanks, Jeff!
What you need to capture star trails
EarthSky Facebook friend Ken Christison has some wonderful photos of star trails. He said the equipment needed for making star trails is pretty simple:
First, a camera that allows manual settings so you can set your f/stop and shutter speeds, as well as ISO.
Next, a wide-angle lens, the wider the better.
A good steady tripod is a must.
Some cameras will have a built-in intervalometer, which can be set to shoot the desirable number of frames. In some cases the intervalometer has a bit of lag between shots. This is the reason I use a separate remote attached to the camera that holds the shutter down. And when the camera is set in continuous shooting mode, it will shoot 100 frames in succession with very little gap.
The remote I use is a simple one that can be found on eBay and uses a couple of AAA batteries that last quite a while. I just use the remote controller attached to the 10 pin connector. There is no need to use the wireless receiver in this case.
I use a shutter speed of 30 seconds, ISO of 400 to 800, and – with my 14-24mm lens at 14mm – shoot it wide open at f/2.8.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eddie Little of North Carolina captured the stars circling around Polaris, the North Star, on January 2, 2025, and wrote: “I had a mostly cloudless, nearly moonless night on one of the longest nights of the year. Approximately 12 hours of shooting.” Thank you, Eddie!
How to photograph the timelapse streaks
Next, Ken said, you’re ready to capture your star trail:
Make sure the camera is level. After focusing on a star, make sure the autofocus is turned off. Then, using the settings mentioned above, click the shutter and stay around long enough to know that the shutter is actually actuating. I normally go back in the house, set the timer on our kitchen stove for 45 minutes, and do other things while the camera does its work.
When the timer sounds, go back out and reset the remote by turning it off, waiting for the shutter to close, then reset quickly.
Finally, you’ll want to process your photo. Ken said:
This is one of the most important elements in making star trail images. The program I use is free, works well and is simple to use: Startrails.exe.
One other program that I have heard works well and is also free is StarStaX.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Boyle of Medford, Oregon, submitted this composite image on May 10, 2024, and wrote: “About 150 30-second shots of nearby ‘Table Rock’ and the aurora on May 10, 2024, in Southern Oregon. Images were stacked in Photoshop with minor edits done to remove or darken lights in the foreground. The colors in the sky were not evident to the unaided eye, especially one that had been reading with a flashlight. It wasn’t until I reviewed my images that I saw the brilliant color.” Thank you, Andrea.
Star trails from our community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Palma made this composite from images captured on June 5, 2026, from Portugal. Jose wrote: “On the night of June 5, 2026, the old chimney of Achada do Gamo, Mina de São Domingos, stood framed between the luminous trails of Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest planets in the sky that night, as they slowly made their way toward the western horizon. The composition was carefully planned for this alignment between sky and earth.” Thank you, Jose!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Meiying Lee submitted this composite image taken from New Zealand. Meiying wrote: “On the night of March 14, 2026, two auroral substorms occurred. I was incredibly fortunate to witness and capture the aurora at 45° south latitude in Queenstown. This image also captures the rotation of the southern sky through star trails, dancing alongside the aurora. The slight wobble in the star trails is caused by vibrations from the wooden balcony floor where the camera was set up, along with the movement of excited onlookers nearby. This image is a stack of approximately 620 exposures taken over 4.5 hours.” Thank you, Meiying!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Palma of Portugal made this composite image on May 8, 2024, and wrote: “The trails of stars across the sky captures the timeless journey of the stars as they ‘cross’ the heavens, while the fireflies below, at this time of year, add a touch of earthly magic to this wonderful scene. Together, they weave a story of harmony between the natural world and the cosmos, reminding us of the beauty and wonder that surrounds us every night.” Thank you, Jose!
A star trails video
EarthSky’s own Raúl Cortés captured this video of star trails on July 13, 2023, from Monterrey, Mexico. The bright orange streak near the horizon is the star Antares in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion.
Moon and sun trails from our community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | This image was captured by David Hunter on March 3, 2026, from California. David wrote: “This photograph was taken in the early morning hours of March 3rd from about 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. I let the camera run for the next four hours taking continuous shots for 4 hours every 25 seconds. You wouldn’t normally see star trails in a time-lapse involving the bright full moon, but in this photo the majority of the star trails captured nearest the moon were taken during the eclipsed period allowing them to come through to the camera sensor and then show up during the stacking process in post.” Thank you, David!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Aqib Ali captured this image on June 29, 2026, from India, and wrote: “This image captures the rising moon above Jal Mahal in Jaipur, Rajasthan, using the lunar drift technique. Instead of a single exposure, I photographed the moon continuously and combined more than 190 sequential images to reveal its apparent motion across the twilight sky. The resulting trail illustrates the moon’s slow journey while preserving its detailed surface in each position.” Thank you, Aqib!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Meiying Lee in Taipei, Taiwan, shared this sun trail with Venus and Mercury from December 24, 2022. Can you find all the solar system objects as they set? The sun, Mercury, Venus and moon are all captured in this composite. Thank you, Meiying!
Bottom line: Star trails are photographs of the sky taken with long exposures. The result is an image with stars trailing across the sky in concentric streaks, often whirling around one of the celestial poles. But you can also take photos of sun trails, moon trails, or trails of the planets.
Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. You can still find many articles at EarthSky.org that were originally written by Bruce, and which the EarthSky editors still update regularly. Bruce is a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York. Bruce he loves cycles of all kinds! You can still find many articles at EarthSky with Bruce's name on them, exploring the various, intricate cycles of the sky.
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