Comment on 1000 Miles Per Hour by CapturingTheNight

It's all to do with where you are in the world and where you point your camera. Because the earth is rotating around the poles the celestial poles (centre of the circles) is just an extension of the the same line. Best way I can explain it is stand up straight and imagine that your feet are say the south pole of the earth and the top of your head, the north pole. Now look at a spot close to your feet and turn around once. What happens to the spot? It makes a small circle around your feet. Now look at a spot say 3 metres away and turn again. What happens? The spot describes a bigger circle around you. Now look at the horizon and turn again. What happens? It makes a straight line. You are seeing the same effect in this picture. Stars close to the celestial poles are small circles while stars on the right of the frame (looking towards the west) are straightish lines. You are in the northern hemisphere? So to get the stars to describe circles, point your camera north for a really long time. If you want straight lines then shoot either east or west. If you shoot south from the northern hemisphere you will only get half circles as the south celestial pole wont be visable above the horizon. Hope this made sense