Another beautiful time-lapse video from Terje Sorgjerd, who filmed the stunning video of the aurorae that I posted a few weeks ago. This one focuses on the Milky Way galaxy as viewed from our place within it, seen from one point on our rotating planet. In this case, that point is Spain’s highest mountain, El Teide – one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars, and the home of Teide Observatories.
As always, when watching these videos I really get a kick of breaking out of the personal perspective, seeing a bunch of pretty lights spinning around me, and instead understanding what the view really is – me standing on a spinning planet, staring into deep space at a billion suns, grouped together in a galaxy that sits within a far greater cosmos. Awe-inspiring.
This celestial video also features an Earthly phenomena:
A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.
Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.
You can find more information about the shoot at Terje Sorgjerd’s Vimeo page.
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