The Milky Way over Mount Everest

Incredible Milky Way Timelapse Over Black Desert in Egypt

Incredible Timelapse of Comet Lovejoy Streaking By With A Milky Way Backdrop

The above picture was a recent NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (click to enlarge) that shows Comet Lovejoy flying over the Paranal Observatory in Antofagasta, Chile.

We showed you how Lovejoy made its death-defying lap around the Sun, but failed in showing you just how beautiful the comet is. Luckily, the below time lapse video was made that catches not only Lovejoy, but yet another awesome shot of the Milky Way.

Before watching the video, however, I strongly suggest to play it in full screen HD in the darkest room you can find; it really is breathtaking.

Night Time Lapse of Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) rising above the Andes near Santiago de Chile, 23rd December 2011, just before sunrise. Set of 4 sequences taken with different lenses “zooming in” the scene.

(Source: astrosurf.com)

Astrophotographer Shoots Incredible Time Lapse Montage of the Milky Way

Being able to view the Milky Way with any kind of clarity is a sight like no other - being able to get a time lapse video is even better. That is exactly what astrophotographer Harley Grady has been doing the past couple years and the results are astounding. Below is a montage video that brings together many of his videos into something that can only be described as cosmic bliss.

Harley uses the following equipment:

Canon 5D MK II
Canon 24-105mm f2.8
Canon 16-35mm f2.8

If you are interested in how he makes his videos, Harley also posted a quick tutorial on how you can get started.

Harley also won The Royal Observatory’s Best Newcomer Award for his shot titled “Zodiacal Light on the Farm”.

If you are as impressed with his work as I am, be sure and check him out on YouTube, Flicker, and Vimeo.

Incredible Simulations of the Milky Way - Andromeda Collision

violent-buddhist:

Cannibalistic Galaxies

Billions of years just passed before your eyes

Our neighbouring galaxy Andromeda (M31) shows evidence of being a past cannibal and is 3 times the size of the Milky Way. We are predicted to be “consumed” within the next 7 billion years. “It would be a beautiful night sky, it will be quite spectacular.” -Author/Astrophysicist Mark Irwin.

The above gif is an artist simulation of what it would look like when the Milky Way is consumed by Andromeda, which the is closest spiral galaxy. It’s a fascinating image, too bad it’s not going to happen for another 5 to 7 billion years from now.

Scientist predict that the collision may not even disrupt our solar system, however life on Earth will have long since been eradicated due to “increasing luminosity of the Sun”.

Below is video showing a more detailed simulation of the collision:

(Source: jjennruth)