The full version (which, I’m warning you, is very, very large—16MB!) is so fascinating to look at. I think that, if I squint, I might be able to see my house!
After looking at this image for a bit, you’ll be all set to watch this.
via NASA
Earth
These awe-inspiring time-lapse videos are previews of Tom Lowe’s upcoming astronomy film, TimeScapes:
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.
It’s footage like this that makes me wish I didn’t live in the city.
via Gizmodo
These videos show the aurora borealis (or australis) effect from the perspective of the International Space Station:
Absolutely astonishing. You can clearly make out the Earth’s magnetic field!
via Universe Today
It’s easy to forget how magnificent Earth Utah is, especially if you live in the city. Let Dustin Farrell remind you with this awe-inspiring time-lapse video featuring the soundtrack from the movie Sunshine
How would Mars, Earth, Neptune and Jupiter look if they were the same distance from Earth as the Moon?
Jupiter would be a little intimidating.
Update: Replaced the original with an interpolated (smooth) version.
A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line) and the stars of our galaxy.
Amazing. I love all of the lightning storms.
by James Drake
via Universe Today
This is just great! Carl Sagan’s powerful Pale Blue Dot speech meets one student’s animation skills:
Artist Adam Winnik created this animation as his thesis project at Sheridan College. The animation includes audio of Carl Sagan reading an excerpt from his book, Pale Blue Dot (Ballantine, 1994). Winnik says, “The first time I heard this excerpt from his book Pale Blue Dot it literally changed my life, and I hope it does for you too.”
Great job, Adam!
Credit: Adam Winnik
via Science News Blog
By changing the distribution of Earth’s mass, the Japanese earthquake most likely caused Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds. That’s according to calculations done by Richard Gross of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
The calculations also show the Japan quake should have shifted the position of Earth’s figure axis (the axis about which Earth’s mass is balanced) by about 17 centimeters (6.5 inches), towards 133 degrees east longitude. Earth’s figure axis should not be confused with its north-south axis; they are offset by about 10 meters (about 33 feet). This shift in Earth’s figure axis will cause Earth to wobble a bit differently as it rotates, but it will not cause a shift of Earth’s axis in space—only external forces such as the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon and planets can do that.
Great — as if the days weren’t passing by fast enough already!
Take it in.
From NASA APOD:
There’s no place like home. Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return. About 350 kilometers up, the ISS is high enough so that the Earth’s horizon appears clearly curved. Astronaut Dyson’s windows show some of Earth’s complex clouds, in white, and life giving atmosphere and oceans, in blue. The space station orbits the Earth about once every 90 minutes.