Blazing trails across the night sky

No, that's not a downpour of lightsabers - but it's no typical night sky either. Stargazing here at Paranal Observatory, on a mountaintop in Chile's desolate Atacama Desert, you'll get one of the clearest possible naked-eye views of the southern skies. This 'lightsaber' effect comes from the photo's long exposure: What we're seeing is these stars' paths tracking across the night sky as our planet rotates. The dazzling colours indicate temperature, the chilliest stars (around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 2,760 Celsius) appear red, while the hottest (tens of thousands of degrees) appear blue or nearly white.
© Matteo Omied/Alamy