“Picture a bright blue ball
Just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity
Paint it with a skin of sky
Brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me
A peaceful place or so it looks from space.”
Those are the words of John Perry Barlow, one-time lyrist for the Grateful Dead from the song Throwing Stones and no video backs those words up better than one released by the European Space Agency (ESA) earlier this month.
The fifteen-minute time-lapse video (shown below) was shot from the International Space Station as it takes two trips around the planet we all call home. It is the longest time-lapse ever released by the ISS and Earth’s majesty is on full display.
It also serves as clear and remarkable proof of the spherical shape of our planet, as if we really needed more.
The video, released in honor of the ISS’s 20th Anniversary, is a time-lapse, sped up to 12.5 times the actual time and features more than twenty-one thousand images of earth. It starts in the northern hemisphere and travels down and around the southern hemisphere.
The most breathtaking shots are of the sunrise, shown twice. It is enough to bring a tear to your eye when you see it. Whether you believe in the Big Bang, intelligent design or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, no one can deny the infinite beauty of a sunrise from space.
And yes, it’s round!
Enjoy the video below!
