The stunning night sky over Austria
Breath-taking video shows Austria's night sky using time-lapse photography
The Styrian astro-photographer, Michael Kleinburger spent a
year documenting the centre of the Milky Way from the Gesäuse National Park (also in the Almenland Natural Park- see Facebook link below)
Alpine view into space: Michael Kleinburger appreciates the
darkness in the Gesäuse National Park.
The effects of human activities shape planet earth to such
an extent that scientists have long been discussing the introduction of a new
geological age, that of humans: the Anthropocene. One aspect that still receives little public
attention, although it is literally coming to light more and more, is the
dwindling night-time darkness.
Darkness is really found in fewer and fewer regions of the
world as artificial light sources are changing the night-time conditions on our
planet considerably. This has a variety
of negative consequences, as numerous scientific studies show - from impaired
day-night cycles in animals to sleep problems in humans to growth disorders in
plants. A branch of science is also
massively affected by the nocturnal lighting: astronomy.
Light polluted continent
The Styrian nature photographer, Michael Kleinburger, who
specializes in astronomical photography, deals intensively with the subject in
his work. "In principle, 99 percent
of Europe is light-polluted, there are only small islands of darkness,"
says Kleinburger. Such an island can be
found in Upper Styria, around the Gesäuse National Park. The photographer spends a lot of time there
and last year alone captured the sky on camera for more than a hundred hours.
Kleinburger has now published the result as a video –
“Noctis Austria” which shows thousands of photos in fast motion for four
minutes.
"I want to draw attention to how beautiful the dark
night sky is and how worth preserving it," says Kleinburger. However, he also wanted to show the dynamics
that are not visible when looking at individual photos. "When I photograph the Milky Way, distant
galaxies or the moon, it is always a fight against time as because of the
Earth's rotation, these objects move in the sky. Bringing this effect to other
people works best using time lapse."
False stars
At 25 frames per second, the photographer allows the Milky
Way to wander across the Styrian sky. Again and again the recordings are
thwarted: Rarely and hardly perceptibly shooting stars pass through the
picture, satellites and airplanes can be seen much more frequently and more
prominently. The rapidly growing number
of artificial moons is causing serious concerns among astronomers: just last
year, a research team warned that the naked eye could soon see more false stars
in the night sky than real ones.
The Styrian National Park is one of the last "islands
of darkness" for the astro-photographer.
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