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'Under The Namibian Sky' Time-Lapse: 250 Hours Of Dazzling Night Exposures (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 06/08/2012 5:05 pm Updated: 06/15/2012 8:57 am

Captured over the course of ten cloudless nights at Tivoli Farm, Namibia, "Under the Namibian Sky" contains more than 250 hours of dazzling night exposures of the Milky Way, various celestial bodies, satellites and meteors.

The 13-minute movie, which was shot and posted to YouTube by Lorenzo Comolli and his team in late November 2011, is filled with dynamic star-scapes that show the dizzying migration of the stars across the night sky in the southern hemisphere.

You're going to want to watch this one in high definition.

A sweeping piano score accompanies the film and helpful signs illuminate various points of interest -- from Jupiter to the Magellanic clouds and dizzying shots of star trails.

For the shoot, Comolli and his crew used Canon cameras and a variety of lenses, ranging from 8 to 20mm, at exposure times of 30 to 60 seconds.

Namibia, along with the deserts of Chile and Australia, is one of the clearest places in the world for stargazing.

In May, NamibRand Nature Reserve, a private reserve in southern Namibia, received approval to become an official night sky reserve.

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Captured over the course of ten cloudless nights at Tivoli Farm, Namibia, "Under the Namibian Sky" contains more than 250 hours of dazzling night exposures of the Milky Way, various celestial bodies, ...
Captured over the course of ten cloudless nights at Tivoli Farm, Namibia, "Under the Namibian Sky" contains more than 250 hours of dazzling night exposures of the Milky Way, various celestial bodies, ...
 
 
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08:16 AM on 06/12/2012
Sigh... and to think at one time ever spot on Earth was the perfect place to stargaze.
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Chef Gregory
Savor Life, Live Love, Sante'!
09:00 PM on 06/13/2012
Yea those light bulbs really makes one lust for living in caves! Dripping water right at your fingertips. 10 billion people, all living in caves. Good times, good times....Stargazing is all around us. Get in your car, if you have one, and go out into the ....wait for it....country.The stars await you.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
John Ramsey001
11:28 PM on 06/11/2012
Wait a minute. Are you telling me that if I go to Naminia and look up at night that is what I will be able to see?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
KIVPossum
Moldova Marsupial
06:49 AM on 06/11/2012
How does one get 250 hours of exposures in only ten nights?
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Chef Gregory
Savor Life, Live Love, Sante'!
09:01 PM on 06/13/2012
More than one camera, loon....
12:45 AM on 06/11/2012
Beautiful! Great introduction for learning the constellations of the southern hemisphere night sky.
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HekmagaJuximaxx
Shish Kebab, anyone?
08:48 PM on 06/10/2012
Here, mute that piano music and try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a_lOcavDwI
12:01 AM on 06/11/2012
But I like that piano music. What is it? Do you know?
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HekmagaJuximaxx
Shish Kebab, anyone?
06:14 PM on 06/11/2012
"For You" from the album "Timeless Piano Dreams" by Vladimir Sterzer. A lot of his music in on Youtube, just search the name there.
08:29 PM on 06/10/2012
The article says "over ten cloudless nights....over 250 hours of film...". Okay, but the nights would have to be over 25 hours long to accomplsh that. So what planet were they really on?
11:42 PM on 06/10/2012
multiple cameras........ex. 5 cameras filming for five hours = 25 hrs.
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Chef Gregory
Savor Life, Live Love, Sante'!
09:02 PM on 06/13/2012
Once again, more than one camera...Jeeze!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
WSAY
Res ipsa loquitur
06:07 PM on 06/10/2012
This guy deserves credit for some cool stuff. Here is more:

https://www.youtube.com/user/loreastro
05:27 PM on 06/10/2012
Too bad the authors didn't label the planet Kolob, where the one true God resides. I've always wanted to know.
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WSAY
Res ipsa loquitur
06:02 PM on 06/10/2012
And the true Easter Bunny.
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HekmagaJuximaxx
Shish Kebab, anyone?
09:06 PM on 06/10/2012
Kolob is the planet in the Mormon religion. Backwards it spells "BOLOK", or bollocks. That's what the Mormon religion is.
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05:24 PM on 06/10/2012
Meh.
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HekmagaJuximaxx
Shish Kebab, anyone?
09:06 PM on 06/10/2012
Nice kitty.....
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
justnic
just nic.
04:16 PM on 06/10/2012
Makes you feel beautifully insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
foreverhippie
All your olive branches turned to spears
When yo
09:12 PM on 06/10/2012
We are.
03:55 PM on 06/10/2012
Quite nice. More and more planetariums are capable of showing this type of dramatic imagery on their domes. Please check out your local planetarium and enjoy a star show! Now, maybe your planetarium doesn't have the latest fancy equipment, but please support them so they can bring quality education to your community.
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HamletsMill
All Myth is Astronomy
03:50 PM on 06/10/2012
Wow! Tremendous!
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thisoldbroad
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist
03:40 PM on 06/10/2012
WOW! I love this kind of stuff! It reminds us that the universe is so incredibly large, yet we try & fail to control such a small bit of it in our daily lives. Very humbling.
03:36 PM on 06/10/2012
Beautiful, the tags were not that bad. Enjoyed the music, but I wish they would use Holst for some of these vids. What I didn't like was the all the red lights from the astronomers on the ground, those were really distracting.

Here's another taken in Chile at the VLT installation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFpeM3fxJoQ
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FuzzyBongo
03:18 PM on 06/10/2012
Wow, do you ever feel like you're trapped inside on a rainy day and you can't go out to play in the beautiful wilderness??? There's so much OUT there! And I'll NEVER SEE ANY OF IT! It's pretty humbling!