Runic Trails

As seen on the National Geographic News like a ritual dance around an ancient temple, star trails swirl around the North Star above Viking-era runestones, in this long-exposure picture snapped in Vallentuna, Sweden. Taken over an hour, the photo shows stars appearing to form trails around the north celestial pole, which is almost exactly aligned with the northern pole star, Polaris. Click on the second photo to see another autumn nightscape view of Viking runic inscription stones.