South Celestial Pole.

Like the axel of a wheel, the Earth's geographic poles are a point of rotation. In the Northern hemisphere, the North star, Polaris, gives a guide to the point directly above the Arctic. In the south, there is no such star. Down here, early navigators used a number of points in the sky, including the southern cross, to find their compass directions. Using these methods, the Polynesians sailed the mighty Pacific Ocean and eventually found their way to New Zealand, where this photo was taken. Like water going down a plug-hole, the stars spiral the south celestial pole in this 20 minute exposure. The main exposure was 20 minutes, then the lens was covered for two minutes before being re-exposed for a further minute to show the individual stars. Photo details: Minolta camera, 20 minute exposure with a 28mm lens @ f-2.8, Kodak Elitechrome 200 slide film.

 Image taken July 27th 2003