I looked in Skymap and for May 25 at 23:00 (1 hour to midnight) the Japan sky in the photo looks like this. The constellations wrap around a polar star such as Polaris during the night, almost a half circle or so, normally, while the polar star stays still. But in this photo the smear lines are showing that the photo was only taken during only a few minutes, I suspect a half hour at most. I did a second Skymap a half hour later (23:30) and this shows a motion about what the distance the smear lines in your photo show. Those who report that Polaris moves, due to the wobble, descibe this over a 3 to 6 hour period. Perhaps 30 minutes was not enough. I also note that the constellations seem quite high in the dome. Skymap expects the Little Dipper to be at 45° and Cassiopia at the horizon, but this view puts the Little Dipper closer to the dome top and Cassiopia well above the horizon. I would estimate at least 15-20° too high in the dome.
- North Pole didn't move in Japan! Thanks for analysis,this photo was taken on 15May-05 pm11:18, N37 in Japan.
- Ichi