APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

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APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:06 am

Image Southern Ocean Sky

Explanation: Clouds and sky both show illuminating changes during this time lapse video from the south of Australia. In the foreground are scenes visible over a rocky coastline toward the Southern Ocean. Dark clouds flow across the sky, sometimes from different directions, sometimes blocking background starlight, but other times causing stars to appear to flare as they move in front. In the first sequence, looking toward the southwest, a nearly vertical band of zodiacal light is seen at sunset just before the band of the Milky Way Galaxy appears to settle into the sea. Soon the unusual dark patch of the Coal Sack Nebula can be seen on the Milky Way band, near the famous Southern Cross. Later, looking toward the southeast at about 2:10 in the video, Orion can be seen rising appearing nearly perpendicular to how it rises in northern skies. The composite video, winner of an award STARMUS astrophotography competition, took over a year to compile in 2009 and 2010 from over 30 hours of exposure. Mini-mystery: what are those lights moving along the horizon?

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KevNYC

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by KevNYC » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:13 am

the moving lights at the bottom...a ferry from the the Australia mainland to Tasmania perhaps?

sato

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by sato » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:16 am

the great ocean road behind, the water in the video is also a shipping lane between melbourne and destinations to its west - the cities adelaide and perth, and the mining ports of pt augusta and pt lincoln. no doubt the lights are on ships.

spacedog

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by spacedog » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:29 am

I think the brightest, golden glow is the sun and the more focused points of light at the horizon are planets. One even goes into retrograde during one sequence.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Beyond » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:37 am

Gads!! I'd make a terrible Astronomer. I couldn't find the southern cross or the pale red star.
Staring at all that part of the universe going overhead, kinda makes one wonder just what the heck are we doing on this piece of dust out in the middle of nowhere.
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.

Matt

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Matt » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:48 am

I live in the general area these were taken. The lights would mostly be fishing ships, alot of them use lights at night to attract octopus.

mrhappy99

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by mrhappy99 » Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:06 am

If you look closely, you can make out a geosynchronous satellite from the 1:31 mark to about 1:52. It's faint, but you look about two thirds up from the horizon, and about 80% of the way from the left side, you'll see it remain still while all the other celestial objects pass by it. Because it's the only stationery thing in the sky, it actually appears to be moving 'against the grain'.

Scottt Holder

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Scottt Holder » Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:12 am

What is the bright greenish object on the horizon starting at 0:44?

kittymom

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by kittymom » Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:17 am

A truly beautiful video! I even saw Orion upside down at one point.

"The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork." Psalm19:1

macahi

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by macahi » Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:11 am

Absolutely beautiful display.
I saw Orion, but didn't find the Southern Cross.
I think I'll watch it again ;-)
Last edited by macahi on Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Please read the rules; thanks.

astroDM

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by astroDM » Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:15 am

That said, great movie, well done.
Last edited by astroDM on Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Please read the rules; thanks.

John Temple

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by John Temple » Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:26 am

Fabulous video – really enjoyed it. Thanks to those who put in all the hard work to produce it and put it on the net. The heavens are breathtaking at any time, but especially so when presented like this.
As a northern hemisphere resident, I spotted Orion “upside down” – really makes you think about the earth being a sphere and the meaning of “down”. (I’m a retired science teacher and used to have to teach this).
Last edited by John Temple on Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:09 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Please read the rules; thanks.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Redbone » Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:29 am

Very entertaining and inspiring video. My guess for the lights is the ubiquitous automobile.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by neufer » Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:45 am

KevNYC wrote:
the moving lights at the bottom...a ferry from the the Australia mainland to Tasmania perhaps?
ImageImage
Flashing green-yellow lights of fireflies are a common sight in June & July.
Jupiter is at upper left in this time exposure. Photo: Bob King
Last edited by neufer on Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by owlice » Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:20 pm

[attachment=0]star trails and fireflies.jpg[/attachment]
Copyright: Steve Irvine

Submitted last year and shown here. The larger image is very cool.
Attachments
Click to view larger image
Click to view larger image
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by wilbeck » Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:26 pm

I suspect the lights are from vehicles on The Great Ocean Road, which this Yank has driven when his daughter lived in Melbourne.

Aloysio Carvalho

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Aloysio Carvalho » Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:01 pm

Hi,

Maybe it is just me, but video shown is cassini-saturn video... nothing earthly.

I tried Reload, F5, Ctrl-F5 and no change.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by sijo » Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:20 pm

mrhappy99 wrote:If you look closely, you can make out a geosynchronous satellite from the 1:31 mark to about 1:52.
Nice catch!

My first thought when I saw the lights moving on the horizon was ships. That one "goes into retrograde" is compelling evidence that Matt's assertion that they're fishing ships is correct as that would be a rather unusual manoeuvre for a cargo ship.

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Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by orin stepanek » Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:34 pm

I liked the vimeo! 8-)
Orin

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Zaephyr

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Zaephyr » Mon Jul 04, 2011 1:57 pm

I agree with Matt as well.

Recently I read an article about commercial fishing fleets and it had several shots from space, particularly off the Eastern South American coast. It was a little scary to see all these ships making essentially cities at sea.
I couldn't find that article, but here is one from The Atlantic that shows fishing fleets as well as electric lights, forest fires, and natural gas burn off.

http://www.theatlantic.com/internationa ... ded/70293/

hpfeil

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by hpfeil » Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:27 pm

I couldn't come up with sufficient superlatives to describe this movie, so I offer this excerpt from the STARMUS astro-photography competition:

"The scenes are chosen with the eye of an artist, but the subtle panning and excellent control of colour and contrast reveal technical skills of a high order."
--http://www.starmus.com/pages/en/winners ... ion128.php

SNiLD

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by SNiLD » Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:31 pm

Aloysio Carvalho wrote:Hi,

Maybe it is just me, but video shown is cassini-saturn video... nothing earthly.

I tried Reload, F5, Ctrl-F5 and no change.
I have the same issue with Firefox on every vimeo video shown in APOD. You can get the video to show if you go to the actual page of the day.

ie. if you're at http://apod.nasa.gov press the back arrow and from that page (to go to the yesterdays picture), then press the forward button (to arrive todays picture) at url http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110704.html.

doomsauce

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by doomsauce » Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:34 pm

mrhappy99 wrote:If you look closely, you can make out a geosynchronous satellite from the 1:31 mark to about 1:52. It's faint, but you look about two thirds up from the horizon, and about 80% of the way from the left side, you'll see it remain still while all the other celestial objects pass by it. Because it's the only stationery thing in the sky, it actually appears to be moving 'against the grain'.
It took me awhile to find it but that's really cool.

Aloysio Carvalho

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by Aloysio Carvalho » Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:51 pm

SNiLD wrote:
Aloysio Carvalho wrote:Hi,
Maybe it is just me, but video shown is cassini-saturn video... nothing earthly.
I tried Reload, F5, Ctrl-F5 and no change.
I have the same issue with Firefox on every vimeo video shown in APOD. You can get the video to show if you go to the actual page of the day.
ie. if you're at http://apod.nasa.gov press the back arrow and from that page (to go to the yesterdays picture), then press the forward button (to arrive todays picture) at url http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110704.html.
Chrome@Linux here. Same problem, same solution works fine! Thx. Great video!

ivan.sartoretto@uol.com.br

Re: APOD: Southern Ocean Sky (2011 Jul 04)

Post by ivan.sartoretto@uol.com.br » Mon Jul 04, 2011 3:03 pm

I think those are boats (transatlantics)

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