When you get away from the problems of mankind and look at the big picture (literally), our blue marble in the universe sure is a beautiful place, as this stunning time-lapse video of a busy day on Earth—made up of satellite photos—reminds us.
This video, titled “Glittering Blue – A Day in the Life,” comes to us from the YouTube channel Geo de Graff, and it shows 24 hours on Earth, from August 3, 2015. The images were taken by the Japanese Himawari-8 satellite, which sits in “stationary orbit” 22 thousand miles above New Guinea. It took pictures every ten minutes, covering the Pacific Ocean, Australia, parts of Asia, Antarctica, and even Alaska.
The repeating video gives you a chance to notice something different each time. Did you catch the reflection of the sun as it crossed the planet? Or maybe you marveled at the red deserts of Australia? You can focus on one storm each time and still not get everything.
Speaking of storms, if that giant, swirling one in the Pacific looks terrifying to you that’s because it was. That was a category 5 level typhoon named Soudelor that was coming up on Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Weather Channel, in Taiwan alone it brought top sustained winds of 120 mph, with one recording as high as 143 mph. It also resulted in roughly 50 inches of rain to one area, and knocked out power to over 4 million customers.
Sometimes shots from space can make our world look peaceful and stoic, but this video shows the energy and vitality that truly defines our home in the cosmos.
What really stood out to you in this video? Tell us below.
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Image: Geo de Graaf/YouTube
