The following images were all taken with a Nikon D90 DSLR. I originally attempted to take Star Trails with my older Nikon D100 but found the thermal noise to be excessive. With the D90, the noise is still negligible even after 1 hour of exposure.

Exposure control is done with a Satechi TR-M remote control timer for the D90, purchased thru Amazon.
Power is supplied to the camera via a Nikon EH-5 AC power adapter. A 12V DC to 120V AC converter and a portable 12V battery are used.

Images stacked with Startrails.exe (http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html)

   This image of my house is the first Star Trail taken with the new D90. This is a stack of 100, 30 second images at ISO 100, f/3.5 at 24mm. The planes that flew thru the image were not edited out. The paths are headed to Logan Airport in Boston.

Image taken 10/25/2009

  This image is the Willard House Clock Museum in Grafton, MA. This is a stack of 100, 30 second images at ISO 100, f/3.5 at 24mm. A single plane that flew thru the image was edited out with Photoshop. The house was lit by a large security flood light to the right side, out of the frame.

Image taken 11/17/2009

  This image was taken in my backyard and is a trail of Polaris. This is a stack of 182, 30 second images at ISO 100, f/3.5 at 24mm. The night started out clear but high thin cloud bands drifted thru the frame over the course of the image.

Image taken 11/20/2009

 

 

This is an image of the SkyShed Pod with Polaris overhead in my back yard. This is a stack of 170, 30 second images at ISO 100, f/3.5 at 24mm.

Image taken 4/20/2010