Thursday, November 17, 2011

earth from space



I saw this video today and wanted to share it. Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 on board the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 250 miles.


What stands out are the auroras and the actual 'thinness' of the atmosphere. In relation to the size of the planet our atmosphere is rather thin, also the auroras are an expression of the earths magnetic field interacting with cosmic rays that would kill life on this planet. We truly live in a fragile ocean of life, it is quite humbling to be able to see such a magnificent view of our world. 


I am so small I can barely be seen.
How can this great love be inside me?
Look at your eyes, they are small but they
see enormous things.


Jelaludin Rumi

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2 Comments:

Blogger David Clark said...

Fantastic!! Thanks for sharing this. The activity down below is quite amazing. Lightning flashing, city lights, and the atmospheric effects add up to a very dynamic looking planet. It is humbling to think that everything that we've ever heard of and everything we care about has all happened on that little sphere. It all looks rather fragile somehow

David Clark

November 20, 2011 at 3:51 PM  
Blogger Mike Porter said...

I loved this so much I posted it on Facebook to my friends. Views from space give me great reverence of our planetary home. I watched this over and over. I especially loved seeing the lightening storms flashing.

November 20, 2011 at 9:31 PM  

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