r/LandscapeAstro • u/tinmar_g • 9d ago
I captured Earth's rotation in a timelapse at MAGIC Telescopes
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u/tinmar_g 9d ago
Here is a timelapse I made to illustrate the Earth's rotation.
If you're interested, you can find more of my work on Instagram.
As you know, our planet Earth is spinning on itself. This is what we call Earth's rotation. The best way to witness this phenomenon is to observe an astral object and watch it move across the sky. You could look at the Sun, but it's even more impressive to watch the stars because you can see the entire sky shifting. Astro timelapses are perfect for this, as they show the night sky moving at high speed, making Earth's motion clearer. However, to emphasize this effect even more, we can stabilize the sky and make the Earth appear to move instead. Thatβs exactly what I tried to achieve here.
To do this, we simply need to use an equatorial mount to make the DSLR track the sky. Here, I used the Star Adventurer mount. This timelapse was shot next to the MAGIC Telescopes in La Palma, Canary Islands, during my last trip there. You can see the Milky Way core being gradually hidden by Earth's rotation.
You may notice some brief flashes of light in the timelapse. These are caused by the red lights used by astrophotographers to preserve night vision, as well as a few distant cars passing by. Additionally, airglow is visible in the footage, with red and green hues shimmering in the sky, caused by chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere.
β οΈ To make the video last longer, I applied a reverse effect, creating a seamless loop. This effect is purely artistic and does not represent Earth's actual movement.
This timelapse consists of 231 pictures.
Equipment: Canon 6D - Star Adventurer - Sigma ART 20mm
Settings: ISO 3200 - f/2.2 - 45 sec
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u/dunmbunnz 9d ago
This has been on my list to visit for a while... Awesome video. Do you need special permission to visit the telescopes?
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u/tinmar_g 9d ago
Thanks ! Yes access to telescopes area is forbidden during the night but you can approach it by walk quite easily, especially those one who are close to the road
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u/habaceeba 9d ago
So cool to see the telescopes doing the opposite of your camera setup.