Can I take long exposure shots with the Rebel XS?

[radlations]

I'm thinking about getting the rebel XS.

And I'd like to try out some long exposure shots.

Maybe some long exposure shots of car lights at night or shots of the stars moving around.

I was reading answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091018223702AAp4wNd

and they said long exposure shots damage the sensor, but I've been around people doing long exposure shots and if its damaging...why would they do it.

 

[KmH]

I'm thinking about getting the rebel XS.

And I'd like to try out some long exposure shots.

Maybe some long exposure shots of car lights at night or shots of the stars moving around.

I was reading answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091018223702AAp4wNd

and they said long exposure shots damage the sensor, but I've been around people doing long exposure shots and if its damaging...why would they do it.

The longer the sensor is powered up the hotter it gets. To get blurred car light streaks at night only takes exposures of a few seconds, say 30 seconds max. That wouldn't be a problem for any dSLR. Exposures of up to 15 minutes should also be pretty much concern free.

Heat is the number 1 killer of electronics.

Actually the heat is generated by the amplifier and analog to digital (A/D) circuit arrays that are also on the image sensor chip.

To a certain degree it depends on the ambient air temperature so it would be more of a concern on a hot summer night than a chilly winter night.

 

[radlations]

Okay so if I wanted to take a picture of star trails.

I would have to compile multiple long exposure shots(somewhere around 6 minutes) into one picture with some sort of program.

"Star Trail photos only require a camera which has a shutter that can be locked open, a release to hold the shutter open, and maybe a tripod."

So I would need something like a Remote Shutter Release? http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=ZERS60