Starship Asterisk*

anything wrote:it doesn't seem to be anymore

kneedragon wrote:
I would think the moving lights are trucks, travelling across the Nullarbor Plain. In fact, I'm very sure that's what they are. It looks like the lights are at sea, but the coastline curves around, and while 'land' may be at or even fractionally below the horizon, light hugs the ground, and you'll see the lights. The famed Min Min lights of the Australian outback probably have a similar cause.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullarbor_Plain wrote:

Famous shoe tossing tree in the middle of the desert

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<<The Nullarbor Plain ( Latin: nullus, "no", and arbor, "tree") is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. It is the world's largest single piece of limestone, and occupies an area of about 200,000 square kilometres.

Historically, the almost uninhabitable Nullarbor was used by the semi-nomadic Spinifex Wangai Aboriginal people.

European settlers were determined to cross the plain, despite the hardships created by the nature of the Nullarbor. Although Edward John Eyre described the Plain as "a hideous anomaly, a blot on the face of Nature, the sort of place one gets into in bad dreams", he became the first European to successfully make the crossing in 1841. Eyre set out from Fowlers Bay, South Australia on 17 November 1840 with John Baxter and a party of three Aboriginal men. When three of his horses died of dehydration, he was forced to return to Fowler's Bay. He departed with a second expedition on 25 February 1841. By 29 April, the party had reached Caiguna. Lack of supplies and water led to a mutiny, and two of the Aboriginal men killed Baxter and made off with the party's supplies. Eyre and the third Aboriginal man, Wylie, continued on their journey, surviving through bushcraft and some fortuitous circumstances, such as receiving some supplies from a French whaling vessel anchored at Rossiter. They completed their crossing in June 1841.

On 25 December 1896, after an arduous journey of thirty-one days, Arthur Charles Jeston Richardson became the first cyclist to cross the Nullabor Plain, pedaling his bicycle from Coolgardie to Adelaide. Carrying only a small kit and a water-bag, he followed the telegraph line as he crossed the Nullabor. He later described the heat as "1,000 degrees in the shade".

The Wangai Aboriginal people were forced to abandon their homelands during the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s. Since then they have been awarded compensation and many have returned to the general area. In fact, many never left. Due to their isolation it was impossible to warn them all about the testing.

'Crossing the Nullarbor', for many Australians, is a quintessential experience of the 'Australian Outback'. Stickers bought from roadhouses on the highway show 'I have crossed the Nullarbor', and can be seen on vehicles of varying quality or capacity for long distance travel. The process of 'beating the crowds' on overbooked air services at the time of special sporting events can also see significant numbers of vehicles on the road. Crossings in the 1950s and earlier were significant as most of the road back then was unmade dirt track.

The Nullarbor Plain is a former shallow seabed, as indicated by the presence of bryozoans, foraminifera, echinoids and red algae calcareous skeletal that make up the limestone. The region is also the location of Nullarbor limestone and it has a reputation as a significant karst region with Oligocene and Miocene cave formations. One theory is that the whole area was uplifted by crustal movements in the Miocene, and since then, erosion by wind and rain has reduced its thickness. The plain has most likely never had any major defining topographic features, resulting in the extremely flat terrain across the plain today.

In areas, the southern ocean blows through many subterranean caves, resulting in blowholes up to several hundred metres from the coast. The Murrawijinie Caves in South Australia are open to the public, but most of the Nullarbor Caves can only be visited and viewed with a permit from the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Nullarbor is known for extensive meteorite deposits, which are extremely well preserved in the arid climate. In particular, many meteorites have been discovered around Mundrabilla, some up to several tonnes in weight.>>

doomsauce wrote:

mrhappy99 wrote:If you look closely, you can make out a geosynchronous satellite from the 1:31 mark to about 1:52. It's faint, but you look about two thirds up from the horizon, and about 80% of the way from the left side, you'll see it remain still while all the other celestial objects pass by it. Because it's the only stationery thing in the sky, it actually appears to be moving 'against the grain'.

It took me awhile to find it but that's really cool.

jwrenn29 wrote:I can't find that satellite no matter how many times I watch!

Is it the whole time from 1:31 to 1:52, or is it just part of the time (like at the end)?

terrastro wrote:Hi All!

Thanks for the comments - much appreciated.

The beginning of this time lapse was done just outside of Port Phillip Bay and the lights are cruise, cargo and/or fishing boats coming in and out of the Bay. There is a quite a bit of traffic there during daytime too. In the 12 Apostles and Gibsons Steps sequence at the end of the time lapse, where there is a bit of land in the shots, the lights are coming from cars on the Great Ocean Road.

As far as the bright green glow at 0:44 I don't know 100% but I am pretty certain it is an oil well in the Bass Strait as seen from Flinders, Victoria. I have seen the same light on images from another location on the Great Ocean Road, about 300 kms away.

The "geosynchronous satellite" look-a-like at 01:51 is a lens flare caused by the bright light of setting Jupiter. The Nikkor 14-24mm lens is quite prone to flare and I have seen it on numerous occasions.

Cheers,
Alex