Between the Sky and the Earth: La Palma Astrolapse

You have most likely heard of a timelapse: you may have come across a hyerlapse (certainly if you have been following Kuriositas over the last few years).  Now allow us to introduce you to the astrolapse – which does exactly what is suggests on the label.  Watch the stars above the earth turn from the vantage point high in the mountains of La Palma in the Canary Islands.  This astonishing piece of film was created by Adrien Mauduit Films.

The Stars Our Destination

Another great image by Flickr User seriykotik1970. You can find many more like this on his wonderful photostream.

Light Up

What do you do if you are a little girl with a passion for astronomy but you live in a world without any stars? Keep a heart full of hope and a close eye on the empty night sky would seem to be the answer in Light Up, a charming Belgian animated short.

Often in life we have to persevere and believe in something perhaps even when there is little or no evidence of its existence. Yet, for this little girl, something does finally appear one evening and it will change her life forever.

Light Up was created in 2011 by Aveline Stoquart and David Duvieusart, students at the Haute École Albert Jacquard in Namur, Belgium.

500,000,000 Stars

A really short animated film, 500,000,000 Stars says it all in little under a minute.

Created by Federico Radero it takes us on a journey which brings its own sense of wonder (and has a great little surprise at the end if you are a fan of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry!

In case you were wondering the song is Sunshine And Clouds (And Everything Proud) by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The True Power of the Sun

Image Credit Flickr User Chantry Bee

The sun is what we rely on for everything, really.  Without it we would be lost, an ice cold ball in the midst of darkest space.  So, this is why we usually study it at school and - wow - what a lot of facts and figures there are about the star which sustains us.

Did you know, for example, that our sun is so large that over one million of this planet we call earth would fit inside it?  That is pretty big by our standars, but in fact our sun is on the small side when compared with other stars.  Makes you feel pretty small.

If you want to learn more about the true power of the sun, click on this link and take a look at a fascinating article written by Mr Ghaz.

While we are on the subject of stars, Timon and Pumba from Disney's The Lion  King had one of my favorite discussions about stars, in fact let's reproduce it here...

Pumbaa: Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?
Timon: Pumbaa, I don't wonder; I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they?
Timon: They're fireflies that got stuck up in that bluish-black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.

(If that doesn't make you want to watch the movie again, then what exactly might?)