Timelapse Video of Milky Way: A Wish for Less Light Pollution

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The discussion centers around the impact of light pollution on stargazing and the appreciation of the night sky, highlighted by a timelapse video of the Milky Way. Participants express a strong dislike for light pollution and advocate for technological advancements that could enhance visibility of celestial sights in urban areas. The International Dark-Sky Association is mentioned as a resource for promoting dark skies and mitigating light pollution. The conversation also touches on the efforts to replace traditional streetlights with energy-efficient options that reduce light pollution. Additionally, there is admiration for the artistry and technical skill involved in creating high-quality night sky videos, with references to notable videographers like Randy Halverson and Terje Sorgjerd. The discussion concludes with reflections on the differences between digital and film photography in capturing such stunning visuals.
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I hate light pollution. Once we've dealt with actual pollution I would love to see money poured into technologies that would allow sights like these even in cities.
 
From my back deck, you can see the milky way on any clear night, and the rift is prominent. Several miles away, Backyard Farms has built a couple of ~15 acre greenhouses to grow tomatoes. Depending on their schedules, the night sky is not as nice as it used to be.
 
This video makes me feel like I have 15/15 vision.
 
The International Dark-Sky Association is a resource that provides guidance toward getting back our once dark skies --or if you already have dark skies, things you can do to help keep them that way (well, relatively speaking anyway). Of course, there isn't any single entity to blame for light pollution, just as there isn't any single organization that can eliminate it. It's something for which we all need to pitch in.

Here's a link: http://www.darksky.org/"
 
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I know some folks who do star parties at the Grand Canyon each summer - about June.

I also heard recently of hotels that do holidays/vacations for star gazing. One is near the European Southern Observatory at three sites in Chile: Chajnantor, Cerro Paranal and Cerro La Silla.

http://www.eso.org/public/

http://www.eso.org/public/images/
 
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this.
 
amazing, I have never seen milky way like that with my own eyes, the closest was when we were on an off shore isle on a school camp, but even then i couldn't see any of the cloudy bits behind the stars

ryan_m_b said:
I hate light pollution. Once we've dealt with actual pollution I would love to see money poured into technologies that would allow sights like these even in cities.
hmm, i think i may be too much to ask to make people turn off their damn lights at night, the first thing we can do is probably popularize directional, collimated light source
 
  • #10
Evo,

After your video, it inspired me to find others with of similar quality and feel, and incude night time awesome sky images. See if you think http://vimeo.com/28647999" qualifies, I believe it does.

Rhody... :biggrin:
 
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  • #12
Have you seen the animal at 1:59? Deer, or something.

KrisOhn said:
The person who made the videos above, Terje Sorgjerd, is the best in the business in my opinion.

There are moments when I think about throwing out my camera
 
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  • #13
The person who made the videos above, Terje Sorgjerd, is the best in the business in my opinion.

Wow.
 
  • #14
ryan_m_b said:
I hate light pollution. Once we've dealt with actual pollution I would love to see money poured into technologies that would allow sights like these even in cities.
Some energy efficiency initiatives focus on making sure light goes where you want it to go (which saves energy/money), so I think we've probably reached the worst light pollution will be.
Fly into either of Chicago’s major airports at night and you’ll be greeted by the sight of a glowing grid with neat rows of yellow-orange streetlights stretching as far as the eye can see. The grid isn’t going anywhere, but the yellow glow that hovers over the city will soon be a thing of the past. Crews have already set to work installing new ceramic metal-halide lights, which are not only more energy efficient, but produce less light pollution, and generally look more natural and pleasing to the eye.
http://inhabitat.com/chicago-to-replace-old-yellow-streetlights-with-energy-efficient-lamps/
 
  • #15
I must admit after watching these I almost find it hard to believe the video's can be real, the are so vivid almost surreal salvador dali like. I liken it to watching HD TV, the colors are boosted as a result of the digital technology used. I am not complaining mind you, but the stores who sell HD TV's offer a way to make the colors more natural, which tones down the brilliance of the contrast in colors. Which leads me to my point, would this very same video be possible before the use of CCD technology versus film ? There are a few formats used for outdoors that come to mind, http://www.fujifilm.com/products/professional_films/color_reversalfilms/velvia_100/" film for instance.

Rhody...
 
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  • #16
Borek said:
There are moments when I think about throwing out my camera

Hahah, I see it as a goal. I have no clue whatsoever how he makes those videos, but I like to experiment. There should be some aurora tonight, so I might head out to the observatory and try some things.
 
  • #17
rhody said:
Which leads me to my point, would this very same video be possible before the use of CCD technology versus film ? There are a few formats used for outdoors that come to mind, http://www.fujifilm.com/products/professional_films/color_reversalfilms/velvia_100/" film for instance.

Rhody...

It would be possible, but not to the same extent. The major difference between film and digital technology is the sensitivity of the equipment. While a photo exposure in the videos above might be 20 seconds, to get the same effect you would need a (guess) 1 minute film exposure.
 
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  • #18
I find it hard to believe that the corn does not blow in the wind or move in the slightest (around 21 sec).
 
  • #19
All frames are time-lapsed, so if there's any blowing of the wheat, it wouldn't have been captured. You do see a lot of jerky motions. That's the camera capturing some movement.
 
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