Some star trails practice

just curious, and this ties into a previous post I made about proper care and the durability of these cameras:

did you just leave the camera out all night for 5-8 hours on the tripod? I can't imagine you sat there the whole time. If so, did you shroud it in plastic to protect from dew settling or anything similar? I need to download the timelapse app when I get off work today, looks pretty fun