Chilean Night Sky Revealed In Time-Lapse Astronomy Video

Shot by two astronomers, a new time-lapse video reveals the star-studded glory of the Chilean night sky.

The European Southern Observatory, which operates three sites in Chile, has released the new clip. Set to an ambient soundtrack, the video shows a glittering twilight before the sun peaks over the horizon in the country's northern regions.

View the video, courtesy of Reuters, below:

Comments

[TYRANNASAURUS]

10:41 AM on 06/06/2011

It's a number 1 WOW!

[rjhuntington]

08:27 AM on 06/06/2011

Stunning views of the Milky Way and the Magellanic clouds (companion galaxies). Wow. I think I need to go there and see that myself.

[oldrazor]

06:40 PM on 06/05/2011

Those were some big@ss R2D2s on the mountaintop. Cool.

[Left of Center]

02:30 PM on 06/05/2011

What I wouldn't give to have viewing conditions like that!!!

[DSOTM]

10:49 AM on 06/04/2011

We are not alone

[brokerthanu]

01:56 AM on 06/04/2011

What's the European Southern Observatory doing it Chile? Shouldn't it be in southern Spain somewhere?

[cenourinha]

08:49 AM on 06/04/2011

That it is called the European Southern Observatory only means that's who funds and runs the site. It's in chile for primarily two reasons:
1. chile is in the southern hemisphere, which means you can see different regions of the sky (southern spain is still in the northern hemisphere and there are other observatories that look in those regions)
2. the Andes are a good location because there is very little light pollution (certainly not the case anywhere in europe) and it's at the top of a mountain (good for atmospheric conditions)

[Big0725]

08:45 AM on 06/05/2011

Really? Then I'll bet that you didn't know the European Space Agency's launch facility is on the north coast of South America, in the country of Guiana. Am I right?

[BUMbO]

11:42 PM on 06/03/2011

I've never seen a night sky like that. So beautiful.

[edejan]

07:21 PM on 06/03/2011

When I was very young, we lived in Chicago and you could see the sky like that. This is going back 60 years. Now I live in the country and there's so much light pollution out here in the middle of nowhere that you care barely see the big dipper. This was beautiful and makes you realize why ancient man put so much of their thought into explaining star movements.

[Nelle]

02:58 PM on 06/03/2011

Too bad all you see in some cities now is light-pollution, instead of the beautiful night sky.

[Tunghoy]

01:41 PM on 06/03/2011

Wow, you can actually see Bellatrix from Chile.

(Good thing she wasn't casting spells.)

[TAIsabel]

09:38 PM on 06/02/2011

Simply beautiful, thank you!

[JohnnyPDX]

08:37 PM on 06/01/2011

I have never seen the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. That was simply awesome. Thanks.
Oh, and laser beams were an added bonus.

[Bushwhacked]

02:48 AM on 06/02/2011

Agree. Fellow PDX-er here. The buildings sort of looked like CGI.

[Astronomy Guy]

05:05 PM on 06/02/2011

The southern skies are a marvelous sight, especially from a dark observing site.

"When you see the Southern Cross
For the first time
You understand now
Why you came this way"

Southern Cross, by Stephen Stills

[leskataus]

04:36 PM on 06/04/2011

Wait some 12,000 years and that constellation will be visible all over the US and most of Canada, too. On the other hand, Orion will become invisible to those living at the latitude of Great Britain.

[Konnie]

07:11 PM on 06/01/2011

yes its really pretty when you don't have to look thru that awful ozone layer.............

of course your sheep and herders go blind but hey..............