<p>I was asked to define a time (most likely the month) and location of the picture below.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/aXeJS.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/aXeJS.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>I hope I understood it right that it is the south pole, because we don't see a Polar star in the middle. However, I don't understand how I can know the time.</p>
<p>Could anyone please help me? Thanks in advance.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T05:11:51.500Z
I think the south pole during winter is an excellent guess. Off the top of my head I can't see a way of going to any greater precision without going through historical records of aurora activity.
Ingolifs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T05:15:28.843Z
My teacher told me that aurora borealis is not the key here and I need to pay attention to star trails...
ALiCe P.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T05:29:38.563Z
I'm usually wrong about these things, but this image looks to me like it was selected to be impossible to tell *exactly* which month it was taken in. It's sometime in the winter in the southern hemisphere because the sky is dark, so it will be close to June, but I don't see how one can rule out May nor July completely.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T05:33:39.187Z
I can't positively identify any of the structures but just left of the top reminds me of the [Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory) (and [image](https://i.sstatic.net/aUZCY.jpg)) and the thing on the right could be [one of these dishes](https://i.sstatic.net/Ild1m.jpg) (from [here](https://www.coolantarctica.com/Bases/modern_antarctic_bases3.php)), in other words, yes it seems like the South Pole or nearby.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T20:43:17.790Z
Hang on, I got a lead. It's not something that you see, but something you don't see. The moon and planets. They spend about 50% of their time in the southern celestial hemisphere, but I don't see any obvious ones here. The brightest line close to the edge is Sirius, with a declination of -16 degrees. Jupiter, mars, venus and the moon will be brighter than that. The next bright stars towards the edge are Spica at -11 and Rigel at -8. I can't find a decent star candidate for what the orange one on the outer edge might be, so I think that's Saturn.
Ingolifs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T20:44:23.803Z
The rest is a bit tedious - just use some kind of planetarium software to go back and find a period during winter in which there are no planets or moon in the southern sky.
Ingolifs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-22T23:30:55.350Z
@Ingolifs about june 10th 2013 would seem to fit the bill.
James K
<star><photography><time>
How to determine time when a photo of star trails was taken?
ALiCe P.
# How to determine time when a photo of star trails was taken?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-22)

I was asked to define a time (most likely the month) and location of the picture below.
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/aXeJS.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/aXeJS.jpg)

I hope I understood it right that it is the south pole, because we don't see a Polar star in the middle. However, I don't understand how I can know the time.

Could anyone please help me? Thanks in advance.

**Tags:** star, photography, time

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think the south pole during winter is an excellent guess. Off the top of my head I can't see a way of going to any greater precision without going through historical records of aurora activity.  
> **username_0**: My teacher told me that aurora borealis is not the key here and I need to pay attention to star trails...  
> **username_2**: I'm usually wrong about these things, but this image looks to me like it was selected to be impossible to tell *exactly* which month it was taken in. It's sometime in the winter in the southern hemisphere because the sky is dark, so it will be close to June, but I don't see how one can rule out May nor July completely.  
> **username_2**: I can't positively identify any of the structures but just left of the top reminds me of the [Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory) (and [image](https://i.sstatic.net/aUZCY.jpg)) and the thing on the right could be [one of these dishes](https://i.sstatic.net/Ild1m.jpg) (from [here](https://www.coolantarctica.com/Bases/modern_antarctic_bases3.php)), in other words, yes it seems like the South Pole or nearby.  
> **username_1**: Hang on, I got a lead. It's not something that you see, but something you don't see. The moon and planets. They spend about 50% of their time in the southern celestial hemisphere, but I don't see any obvious ones here. The brightest line close to the edge is Sirius, with a declination of -16 degrees. Jupiter, mars, venus and the moon will be brighter than that. The next bright stars towards the edge are Spica at -11 and Rigel at -8. I can't find a decent star candidate for what the orange one on the outer edge might be, so I think that's Saturn.  
> **username_1**: The rest is a bit tedious - just use some kind of planetarium software to go back and find a period during winter in which there are no planets or moon in the southern sky.  
> **username_3**: @username_1 about june 10th 2013 would seem to fit the bill.  

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## 0 answers

