North-facing Stars in Palm Springs., originally uploaded by Pacific Landscapes.

Stacked composite of 87 10-second images at f/2.8 at ISO 2000. Stars visible from Palm Springs, November 24, 2009. Angled trails are probably aircraft, though when rendered to video these frames shows that they are all moving from right to left (downward), which may open the possibility that some are meteors.

This turned out to be a classic case of beginner’s luck. This was shot on Tram Drive at about 1500 feet of elevation so there was little ambient light from the town below. Relatively few airplane streaks for a spot so near a major airport, and there was almost no wind to trouble the alignment. I wasn’t so lucky on my second try….