North Celestial Pole Above the Artists Palette

A photo composite of multiple exposures. From the photographer: “The Artists Palette is a small area of vibrant multi hued rock formations near the Badwater Basin area in Death Valley National Park. These rocks get their color from oxidation of various minerals, deposits of iron oxide and Chlorite.

In the image, the rock formations bask in the warm, natural moonlight from a descending crescent moon (elevation about 25deg above horizon, illuminated at ~32%). I framed the north celestial pole over this foreground to show the passage of time as seen in the rotation of the Earth as it translates to the apparent motion of the stars in the background.”

Technical details: Sony A7R III, Prime lens Sony 24mm, f/1.4 GM, ISO 500, 24mm, f/4.0, 242 sec each exposure. 20 identical exposures stacked in Photoshop using lighten blend mode. 4-5 airplane trails were carefully removed in the process from a few individual frames without affecting the integrity of the star trails.