The southern star trails were a hard one to sort out. I'll link a video that simulates what we are seeing on FE and why the stars appear that way. I've seen a better simulation but I can't find it at the moment, this one gives you the idea though.
Basically our local perception is causing that effect. It's the same with the sun and the moon. The path we view is not their actual path through the sky, just what we are able to see before they vanish over the horizon.
This is one of the most complicated things to resolve because I don't know if the stars are inside or outside the firmament, or how that would effect it. However, even if we fail to explain it, it doesn't mean that the earth is a spinning ball suddenly, to many other proofs against that for me to believe it anymore.
The southern star trails were a hard one to sort out. I'll link a video that simulates what we are seeing on FE and why the stars appear that way. I've seen a better simulation but I can't find it at the moment, this one gives you the idea though.
Basically our local perception is causing that effect. It's the same with the sun and the moon. The path we view is not their actual path through the sky, just what we are able to see before they vanish over the horizon.