Incredible Timelapse Shows Earth's Rotation Over Two Hours
Timothy Roberts
There is no doubt that we live on an amazing planet. It doesn't matter which direction you look, there is always something to see and something to learn.
When considering our home here on Earth, many of us tend to think of it as being stable. In reality, however, we are constantly moving.
Photo: We move as the earth rotates on its axis. We move as the earth orbits around the sun. We even move in the Milky Way and our galaxy moves through the universe.
The thing is, we often overlook that fact because of the grand scale of things. The movement is outside of our visual perception unless you speed things up.
That is what Aaron Jenkin did, and the time-lapse video he shared may just change your perception of the world around us. The video was taken along the British Coast using an equatorial mount.
Photo: If you aren't familiar with an equatorial mount, it is a device that mirrors the Earth's axis of rotation. This allows the camera to remain stable as the world revolves around it.
When you see the 2-hour video condensed into less than 15 seconds, it really shows how far our earth revolves.
Some of the lights you are seeing in the video include boats traveling on the water and light beams from the sky. If you focus on the stars and horizon, it really tells the tale.
Photo: Jenkin is often found in and around Cornwall but he also travels to capture the night sky in pictures and on video. This includes traveling to the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand.
As one of the best dark sky locations, you can see more stars than in other areas. Sometimes, it's overwhelming because there are so many visible stars.
@aaronjenkinphotography I captured a timelapse of the Milky Way in Cornwall last night. I used an equatorial mount to show how much our planet rotates in just 2 hours! #milkyway #timelapse #nightsky #photography ♬ snowfall (Sped Up) - Øneheart & reidenshi
According to PetaPixel, this clearly had an impact on Jenkin, who said: "Just watching the stars above, in awe of how much I could see with the unaided eye. I could clearly see The Dark Horse Nebula, and could even make out the dust clouds of the milky way reflected in the water."
He went on to say that he had never seen such a clear reflection but when he saw it, he knew the timelapse would be awesome.
