APOD: Nocturnal: Scenes from the Southern... (2012 Aug 06)

[APOD Robot]

Nocturnal: Scenes from the Southern Night

Explanation: Have you ever seen the night sky change? It does -- sometimes in beautiful and unexpected ways. To see it, though, usually requires patience. The above award winning video shows several of the possible changes in dramatic fashion with a time lapse video. Visible are sunset-illuminated clouds moving, stars of vivid colors rising, the long tail of a Comet Lovejoy rising, bright satellites crossing, a meteor exploding, a distant lightning storm approaching, skyscapes including the Magellanic Clouds rotating, and a fisheye sky rotating while the foreground becomes illuminated by moonlight. Frequently featuring an artistic human sculpture in the foreground and the southern sky in the background, the video closes with a time lapse clip of a total lunar eclipse. If you can identify any more of the sky events depicted -- or any of the landscapes shown -- please illuminate them with a comment.

<< Previous APOD

This Day in APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

[paul_adams777]

The scenes near the start with silhouetted rocks that lighten to show yellow / orange sands with sandstone pillars are almost definitely at a location called The Pinnacles on the coastal sand-dunes inland from Grey in Western Australia - roughly 100 miles NNW of Perth. Google Earth has some good images. Search for The Pinnacles, Western Australia.

There are no brightly lit towns for miles around there, making it an ideal place for astronomical observation.

[A venti]

To drunk to get it all. Stop thinking so hard. Get a grip. We're all still stuck on this rock!!!!!! Either make something of metal or dont. Get us off this rock. Peace yo

[DrMick]

1:25 appears to be the Bungle Bungles. 1:45 might be stromatolites at Shark Bay. Both are in Western Australia

[hooray beer]

That's no sculpture...

I, for one, welcome our welcome our artistic alien overlords

Those fast moving wispy things look like they are clouds, or galaxies, and I think I see some dark matter in there also...

Some of those clouds look like they might have sprites, gnomes, and even ELVES!

1:44 doesn't fool me, it has to be a lake on Mars, just discovered.

Seriously, this is some fantastic work here, reminiscient of anima mundi, no wonder it has won awards. Congratulations, hope to see more.

P.S. I know this is a little off topic, but this seems like an astronomy forum (captcha told me), and I was wondering, does Uranus have an Aurora

Borealis? I never oserved it directly, but am guessing it does.

[Brewer]

I especially liked the Southern Cross rising over the snow caped volcano. Such a simple constellation to have such a grip on me.

[Beyond]

Two minutes just isn't long enough!

[Barta IV]

At 1:55 there is something at the 10 o'clock position near the moon moving up perpendicular to the movement of the stars, what is it?

[Mr Ballard]

At 59 seconds the lake is named after my family.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]Wenlock and Mandeville[/color][/b]

---

That's no sculpture...

I, for one, welcome our welcome our artistic alien overlords

[c]Those guys will have to compete for Earth
against Wenlock and Mandeville first [/c]

[Anthony Barreiro]

...
P.S. I know this is a little off topic, but this seems like an astronomy forum (captcha told me), and I was wondering, does Uranus have an Aurora Borealis? I never oserved it directly, but am guessing it does.

Yes, an aurora has been seen on Uranus.

And no, you're not likely to observe it with an amateur telescope.

[Anthony Barreiro]

I think tomorrow's apod might be this wheel on Mars.

[neufer]

I think tomorrow's apod might be this wheel on Mars.

No one will be interested in this shot tomorrow. (Instant obsolescence.)

It'll be rather the unique MRO parachute landing shot.

Unless, that is, APOD could somehow photoshop Matt Harding into the JPL celebration.

[none]

There is no image.

[Winslow1191]

When I put my cursor on the still shot, the screen goes blank. WassUp?

[Anthony Barreiro]

I think tomorrow's apod might be this wheel on Mars.

No one will be interested in this shot tomorrow. (Instant obsolescence.)

It'll be rather the unique MRO parachute landing shot.

Hmmph. Mars Reconaissance Orbiter always gets all the glory. Mars Odyssey gets my vote for best supporting spacecraft: Odyssey was in position to receive radio communications from Curiosity during descent and landing, sent the first confirmation of successful landing, and relayed the first pictures.

Unless, that is, APOD could somehow photoshop Matt Harding into the JPL celebration.

How about Matt Harding and Charles Bolden jitterbugging together?

[bystander]

There is no image.

When I put my cursor on the still shot, the screen goes blank. WassUp?

It's a video, be patient. You need to have Flash Player installed to view it and it may take a while for the video to load. I usually have better luck going to the source to view it.

http://vimeo.com/45856570

[imontheinternet]

lol! I guess especially because this is ASTRONOMY pic of the day afterall - so if aliens were to be discovered it would be in this field if any - thought the 'disturbing' figure in the water was an alien!

[azhad]

I especially liked the Southern Cross rising over the snow caped volcano. Such a simple constellation to have such a grip on me.

I find the Southern Cross nice too. The one reason I watched the video again. I'm at the equator, so don't get the chance to see it upside down.

[NoelC]

What beauty and wonder to see the world through digital eyes better than our own and so easily able to compress time so as to animate the sky and Earth.

-Noel

[totalnewbie]

No one recognizes the alien planet as Uyuni?

[mikeyralph68]

Did you notice the two small satellites to the left of the Moon once it starts to go dim during the eclipse? They both are traveling upwards while the Moon is dim. Maybe meteorites? or maybe Artificial?

[mirtomlia]

The sculptures on a salt lake - Lake Ballard Western Australia - the Antony Gormley Sculptures are displyed in the largest out door gallery -- the sculptures are scattered over the 10km salt lake in the Shire of Menzies. The sculptures are modeled on residents of the local area of Menzies. An amazing but eerie place. The night sky is unbelievable.

[neufer]

The sculptures on a salt lake - Lake Ballard Western Australia - the Antony Gormley Sculptures are displyed in the largest out door gallery -- the sculptures are scattered over the 10km salt lake in the Shire of Menzies. The sculptures are modeled on residents of the local area of Menzies.

That sure doesn't look like a hobbit to me.

[b][color=#0000FF]The Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus)[/color][/b]

---

Lake Ballard is an ephemeral salt lake. In 2003, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival the Inside Australia exhibition was commissioned. The artist and Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley installed 51 sculptures over an area of 10 square kilometres on the bed of the lake. The statues were to be removed at the conclusion of the festival but remain as a tourist exhibition.

Lake Ballard is used as a breeding site for Banded Stilts following major flood events. The stilts nest in large close-packed colonies on low islands in ephemeral inland salt lakes such as Lake Eyre, Lake Barlee and Lake Ballard. The last recorded nesting on the lake was in 1995 following the aftermath of Cyclone Bobby.

The Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a nomadic stilt from Australia. It belongs to the monotypical genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, but this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. They breed whenever the water conditions are suitable and lay 3-4 white, brown or black eggs on a scrape.>>

[Jim J]

One Word.... Thanks...