Time lapse of Earth from the ISS

Mon, 14 Nov 2011

Watch this.

That’s all I’m really wanting to say on this one. I’ve posted some previous time lapse videos, but this one has the unique position to be shot from aboard the International Space Station using a special 4K resolution, low light camera at night and daaaamn the resulting beauty of the spinning Earth is just breathtakingly amazing.

I’d rant on and on about it, but really, just check it out for yourself (be sure to do so in HD):

Isn’t that just incredible? From the familiar sights of coastlines and lakes to the strangely foreign spread of the the city lights, to the wonderfully detailed clouds and thunderstorms; all of them floating and spinning together… hell, I get so lost in the simple beauty of it, I almost forget about the whole aurora part being in there too and that part is really amazing. Those towering red and green lights, floating high above the Earth, with the ‘tiny’ cities below and the stars as a backdrop are all so spectacularly captured in this video, to me, they illustrate a grand scale to the Earth and its relationship to the cosmos that’s really not often seen enough. Or at least, not this simple and beautiful in its execution.