Teufelstisch · Palatinate Forest
Star trails above Teufelstisch
The day before New Year’s Eve, I headed out to Teufelstisch late at night to photograph star trails. Clear skies, temperatures below zero.
To my surprise, the little pine on top of the rock was lit up. That wasn’t a problem: I used a timer to take individual frames, then combined them in StarStax. In one long exposure, the lights would have blown out. The three-second gaps gave the camera time to write each image.
Capture settings
- Time
- 30 December · evening, roughly 20:00–23:00 CET
- Camera
- Canon EOS R
- Lens
- Sigma 20 mm f/1.4 DG
- Focal length
- 20 mm
- Per frame
- f/4 · 20 s · ISO 800
- Sequence
- 254 frames · 3 s gaps between frames
- Elapsed time
- approx. 1 h 37 min including gaps
- Stacking
- StarStax
How to plan it in Celeris
Enable “Predefined 3D models” under Settings → 3D display and let the terrain load.
Choose your position
Search the map for “Teufelstisch Hinterweidenthal”. Place the crosshair south of the rock, at about 49.19485° N, 7.74375° E.
Set a winter night
Use the date controls to choose 30 December for your trip. Start with the time band at about 21:50 local time: for star trails, Celeris shows the end of the sequence, not its start.
Frame towards north
Tap “3D” with the cube icon at the top and use the rectangle icon on the right to switch to portrait. Pinch to about 16 mm for this preview’s framing. Aim north, around 0°, and tilt about 17° up.
Turn on star trails
Tap the star with curved trails on the right. Use minus and plus beside it to select 1 h 30 min, the closest available setting to this roughly 97-minute sequence. Check that the rock and centre of rotation have enough room.
Save and shoot
Save the plan with the bookmark. On location, set up your tripod and start the timer using the capture settings above. Combine the frames in StarStax afterwards.
The preview draws continuous trails. The illuminated pine and artificial lighting are absent. Choose the exact time for your own trip; it determines where individual trails start and finish.
Model: Teufelstisch · Sources & licences