This Infinite Loop Timelapse Spins the Earth While the Stars Stay Still

If you point your camera at the sky and film, the stars will arc overhead. That’s because your camera is attached to a giant spinning orb called Earth. This interesting 24 hour time-lapse from YouTuber AlphaPhoenix stabilises the stars by spinning the footage in the opposite direction to Earth’s rotation.

AlphaPhoenix shot the time-lapse over 24 hours with a Sony A6000 and Samyang 12mm f/2.0. Each second of the video is an hour of real-time, as the 30fps time-lapse was created from one photo every 2 minutes.

By focusing on the North Star and rotating the image at the same speed as the Earth’s movement, AlphaPhoenix was able to freeze the stars in place as day turned to night, with beautiful results.

He also posted this behind-the-scenes video, showing how he managed to capture 24-hour footage from his window, using a shroud composed of two towels, a t-shirt, and a wizard hat (well, the leftovers of a wizard hat).

AlphaPhoenix mentions that he is building a motorised rig to actually spin the camera in order to counter the rotation of the Earth, instead of having to spin the footage. We’re looking forward to seeing the results, but for now we’re mesmerised by the infinite time-lapse he has created.

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