I've posted a few jaw-dropping timelapse videos of the aurorae in the past, but check out this *real-time* wonderfulness:

As I've said before, one can only imagine what ancient peoples thought this phenomenon might be...certainly conjures up magic, spirits in my head even though I know the scientific explanation. More information on the video/aurora can be found at Bad Astronomy.

You might also like:

• Aurora As Seen from the International Space Station
• Timelapse: The Aurorae
• Aura of an Aurora
• Ten Amazing Timelapse Videos

In December 1981, the Hessdalen Valley suddenly became famous when a remarkable run of anomalous lights in the sky was reported by locals and tourists, sometimes as many as 20 sightings per week. The following documentary gives a good overview of the history of the phenomenon, taking you on location and talking with many of those who have been involved in researching the 'Hessdalen Lights' in the decades since their appearance:

Unusual lights have been reported here since 1940s or earlier. Especially high activity of Hessdalen lights took place from December 1981 until the summer of 1984 when lights were observed 15 to 20 times per week. The frequency of the lights caused a gathering numerous tourists staying there overnight to see the phenomenon. Since then, the activity has decreased and now the lights are observed some 10 - 20 times per year.

The Hessdalen light most often is a bright, white or yellow light of unknown origin standing or floating above the ground level. Sometimes the light can be seen for more than one hour. There are several other types of unexplained lights observed in the Hessdalen valley.

Since 1983 there has been ongoing scientific research often nicknamed "Project Hessdalen", initiated by Dr. Erling Strand. In 1998, the Hessdalen AMS automated scientific research station was built in the valley. It registers and records the appearance of lights.

Later, the EMBLA program was initiated. It brings together established scientists and students into researching these lights. Leading research institutions are Østfold University College (Norway) and the Italian National Research Council.

Witness the wonderful, beautiful diversity of Earth's environments and cultures in this five minute video made by photographer Kien Liam, taking in sites including Stonehenge, Machu Picchu and the monuments of ancient Egypt:

17 Countries. 343 Days. 6237 Photographs. One incredible journey. After I quit my job last year, I packed a bag, grabbed my camera and bought a one way ticket to London. 17 countries later, I put together this time lapse video of the many amazing places I came across.

To follow the journey and learn more about each scene visit kienlam.net.

If you enjoyed the "10 Amazing Timelapse Videos" feature here on TDG, then you should definitely check this out. One of the geniuses of timelapse film-making that I included in that collection was ('Astronomy Photographer of the Year') Tom Lowe, who is currently producing a full-length feature titled Timescapes that uses time-lapse and other forms of video to create "a portrait of the American Southwest".

Lowe has just released the trailer for TimeScapes (filmed and edited at 4K (4069x2304) resolution, four times greater than regular 1080p HD). Evocative is an understatement:

Timescapes is now available for pre-order in various formats including DVD, Blu-Ray and HD download. As I regularly say, support independent creators of quality content!

Another wonderful timelapse video from Randy Halverson, one of whose previous videos we included in our popular feature "Ten Amazing Timelapse Videos":

This timelapse vid focuses on the movement of the Milky Way across the sky, though there's plenty happening on planet Earth at the same time, not least some terrific storms (hence the title).

As a book-lover, and a person with a yearning for simplicity and soulfulness, this video made my day: The Secret Bookstore. Forced out of the bookshop business by rising real estate prices, Michael Seidenberg decided to do something illegal - he made his own apartment into a bookstore.

This would have not been my ideal. I wouldn’t have thought I'd want to have a bookshop in a location that no one knows about. But once I did it, it just seemed realer than almost everything else. I find ways to survive without it making enough money to be what you would call a successful business. If it’s all about money, there’s just better things to sell.

...Here's the funny thing. My name is known, and my name is in the phone book, and anybody can call me, but of course in this age of super-intelligence, no-one has a phone book. So, I always thought that was pretty shocking, that I was hiding in plain sight. Come find me and visit me, and I'm yours.

Hopefully, despite the internet attention, Brazenhead Books remains "a secret" well into the future...

Some 1500 years ago, the people of the Nazca region of southern Peru etched large-scale artworks into the desert-floor which continue to intrigue and mystify us in the 21st century. And now, echoing that wonderful creation, a South American artist is etching a new landscape art creation - or rather, he's getting a robot to do it for him:

Artist Rodrigo Derteano explains his inspiration for the project in this online interview:

By drawing a gigantic map of a city onto the desert, the project not only seeks to draw attention to this facts, but questions our very concept of city, specially in regards to its environment. Lima is a sort of negation of the desert. Our model and ideal of city is very occidental, and does not adapt very well to its context. The desert is seen a kind of non-place, not a part of our living environment. In this sense, there's a sort of irony in using a robot to draw a city onto the desert, as if it would be drawing it on the surface of Mars (exploring the outer space for the possibility of urban life).

I'm also fascinated by the Nasca people and their lines (200 BC - 600 AD). Studying theories about them, I found their notion of desert as ritual space, and therefore an expansion of their living space, to be in sharp contrast to our notion today. Some see the Nasca lines as cult to fertility and life in the desert, trying to communicate beyond. In this sense, Nasca City is kind of a cult to urban life in the desert today, not communicating beyond, but within our society...

Derteano's robotic creation took 5 days, and he thinks it will last for a number of years (though it's already being obscured by wind-blown debris). It's unlikely though that he'll challenge the 1500-year-age of the Nazca Lines, which have existed this long due to the extremely stable, windless climate of the plateau they inhabit.

Another beautiful time-lapse video from Terje Sorgjerd, who filmed the stunning video of the aurorae that I posted a few weeks ago. This one focuses on the Milky Way galaxy as viewed from our place within it, seen from one point on our rotating planet. In this case, that point is Spain's highest mountain, El Teide - one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars, and the home of Teide Observatories.

As always, when watching these videos I really get a kick of breaking out of the personal perspective, seeing a bunch of pretty lights spinning around me, and instead understanding what the view really is - me standing on a spinning planet, staring into deep space at a billion suns, grouped together in a galaxy that sits within a far greater cosmos. Awe-inspiring.

This celestial video also features an Earthly phenomena:

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

You can find more information about the shoot at Terje Sorgjerd's Vimeo page.

You might also like...

• The Aurorae
• Aura of an Aurora
• Timescapes: Death is the Road to Awe
• Orion of the Maya
• Cosmic Sentinels
• Megalithic Mystery

A beautiful sight, captured wonderfully by nature photographer Sandra Critelli: Golden Rays move through waters off the coast of Mexico like an M.C. Escher tessellation:

(H/T Dangerous Minds)

Last week I noted the 3D fractal viewer, Fractal Lab. Just stumbled across this piece of awesomeness made by the person who designed the software, depicting an "evolving fractal landscape":

Ye gods it's hypnotic.

You might also like...

• Fractal Science Fiction
• Cube of the Machine Elves
• Navigating R'lyeh
• Depth Perception