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APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:09 am
by APOD Robot
Celestial Trails over Greece
Explanation: If you watch the horizon at just the right place and at just the right time, you can witness some spectacular juxtapositions between Earth and sky. In the
above video, stars, the Moon, and even a partially eclipsed Sun were recorded rising and setting over photogenic landmarks in
Greece. The inspiring video features effects on star trails that are pretty but somewhat deceiving, as stars will typically remain at nearly the same brightness as the Earth turns beneath them. Also, the
time lapse nature of part of the video causes clouds to appear to jump about and fade in an
unfamiliar fashion. Several stills of these scenes have appeared on
APOD previously, including the
partial solar eclipse over the Temple of Poseidon,
cloud and star trails over a deserted church, and
star trails over an old ship. Other foreground venues include an
old church in
Peloponnese, a
stone bridge in
Ioannina, a
Frankish Castle in
Euboea, and a
picturesque sunset above
Lycabettus Hill,
Athens.
[/b]
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:30 am
by mexhunter
Very well done timelapse. Excelent!!!
Greetings
César
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:46 am
by owlice
Very nice, and I loved loved loved the stars raining down!
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 5:19 am
by Beyond
Ahhhh, tis nice to see a movie without a lot of overpaid Stars in it. And the special effects were great also!! I rate it as 4-YEE-HA's
![Cowboy :cowboy:](./images/smilies/cowboy.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 7:46 am
by Alnilam
More of "time-lapses" in this video are not very natural : it is obvious that the changing sky is added on a still image of landscape, otherwise trees or flowers must be shaked by the wind. It is very different in the last sequence with the flag. I suppose that this choice was made to avoid the blinking of landscape, very frequent in "time-lapse" because of changes in light (clouds). Another reason to do so : star trails are made with a dark sky and the landscape is generally almost black and appears in a "shadow" mode. Without any artificial light, landscape is lightened by the moon sooner or later in the night...
In any case, the result is very artificial.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 8:05 am
by mitsy
Enjoyed that. Thanks.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:13 am
by pistre
What a horrible noise !
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 9:43 am
by Ayiomamitis
Alnilam wrote:More of "time-lapses" in this video are not very natural : it is obvious that the changing sky is added on a still image of landscape,
For anyone who has physically done this kind of work, the "obvious" is NOT so obvious. If we keep the camera fixed, thus having a constant field of view during the sequence, you will get what Chris has produced. The animation is created by layering sequential still images and where the brightest pixel is now added, thus incorporating the latest still and which yields motion.
otherwise trees or flowers must be shaked by the wind.
Your underlying premise is flawed. If there is NO wind, there would be no shaking of trees or flowers.
It is very different in the last sequence with the flag.
The only thing different involving Lycabettus Hill and the waving flag is the presence of winds themselves on that particular afternoon.
I suppose that this choice was made to avoid the blinking of landscape, very frequent in "time-lapse" because of changes in light (clouds).
This is software-dependent and how we handle the transition from frame to frame in the animation.
Another reason to do so : star trails are made with a dark sky and the landscape is generally almost black and appears in a "shadow" mode. Without any artificial light, landscape is lightened by the moon sooner or later in the night...
I think you missed the point here. One needs lighting (ex. the young moon) so as to illuminate the foreground. Otherwise, under a dark sky, the foreground will be grossly underexposed (if at all visible). One can result to artificial means to lighting the foreground (such as a powerful flash) but the natural lighting provided by the moon is, in my opinion, the best means.
In any case, the result is very artificial.
This is unfortunate since such a result involves a serious amount of work!
Great job, Chris.
Anthony.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 10:52 am
by Indigo_Sunrise
I thought this video was very well done! And owlice, I agree: the 'raining stars' were pretty awesome!
And thank you, Ayiomamitis, for explaining some of the process on how this was done. (I was getting ready to repost what is fast becoming (in my mind) the APOD mantra: "If you don't like it, come back tomorrow."
Or don't; we surely won't miss you!)
I especially liked the series where the stars appear to be rotating backwards - I'm assuming this is because the camera is pointing at the south celestial pole....?
Oh, and does anyone have a 'roundabout' way to view the images that are at the 'greeksky.gr' site? My work is denying access......
A very beautiful video!
![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 11:33 am
by Ayiomamitis
Indigo_Sunrise wrote:
I especially liked the series where the stars appear to be rotating backwards - I'm assuming this is because the camera is pointing at the south celestial pole....?
When the camera is pointing west, thus catching the stars setting, we have a view similar to that involving the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion (in Chris' video) which does indeed seem like the stars are rotating backwards. We are so used to watching stars rise that anything else if almost abnormal.
Anthony.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 11:54 am
by orin stepanek
Well done; and very nice!
![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 12:25 pm
by snowwolf
Almost perfect ... but the second sentence of the description says "star trials" instead of "star trails" ... ahh those typos!
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 12:53 pm
by Lang
Why was it necessary to underpin those pictures with blaring, banal pop music? I can't think of anything more at odds with the pictures than that.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 12:54 pm
by moonstruck
Fantastic very well done Chris.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 1:27 pm
by Ailean4321
Absolutely loved this!!
I really enjoy when the APODs are videos. Its a nice change, although I love the photos as well.
Does anyone know the date of the video that expands through the universe and then zooms back in to quantum level? I remember seeing it a while back and would like to watch it again.
Thanks!
I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 1:52 pm
by Dustin
Nice. Very soothing start to my morning Thanks.
I like the way the star trails look like a slow motion meteor storm.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 1:54 pm
by goodtime
Would have loved to watch the whole thing but the background music was so bad I had to turn it off.
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 2:18 pm
by geckzilla
I guess vimeo's mute button isn't so obvious to everyone. It's the little blue vertical bars directly to the right of the play header bar. If you click to the left of those bars, it mutes the music. Anyway...
Close up of
The Tree!
![Sounion Olive Tree :tree:](./images/smilies/sounion_tree.gif)
Most APODded tree ever.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 2:20 pm
by geckzilla
Ailean4321 wrote:
Does anyone know the date of the video that expands through the universe and then zooms back in to quantum level? I remember seeing it a while back and would like to watch it again.
Powers of Ten
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 2:23 pm
by agulesin
snowwolf wrote:Almost perfect ... but the second sentence of the description says "star trials" instead of "star trails" ... ahh those typos!
They were testing the stars, auditioning them before they take part in another blockbuster to be released soon!
I couldn't watch it to the end, I think a little on the long side. and the music? well, that goes without saying...
PS Can anyone tell me what the link to "unfamiliar fashion
http://www.baraskit.se/random/img/89/st ... hion/1.jpg" reveals? for some reason I couldn't get into it...
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 2:56 pm
by terryantrim
the best ever-4= yrs of viewing
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 3:36 pm
by ChrisKotsiopoulos
Thank you all for your kind words! This is the best possible result of more than two years of effort.
Alnilam I'm sorry you didn't like it. As my friend Anthony said it is a matter of process.
Have a look at the ship wreck startrails. You can actually see the tide at the little pool in front of the ship and the progressing startrail reflections.
See also this video and observe the Moon's shadow and the flowers move. Same video, different process:
http://vimeo.com/10158550
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:03 pm
by Ailean4321
much thanks!!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 4:05 pm
by Ailean4321
ChrisKotsiopoulos wrote:Have a look at the ship wreck startrails. You can actually see the tide at the little pool in front of the ship and the progressing startrail reflections.
I noticed that. There is something about an old ship that captures my soul for some reason. Add that to stars and I'm completely enthralled. I think you did an awesome job! Thank you for your time and effort.
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Re: APOD: Celestial Trails over Greece (2011 May 04)
Posted: Wed May 04, 2011 5:22 pm
by geckzilla
It's this weird picture:
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/PBgL7.jpg)