This Time-lapse Video Of Earth's 'Day In Motion' Captured In Ladakh Is Simply Breathtaking
The time-lapse video features Earth's rotation from sunrise to sunset, along with the beauty of the Milky Way captured from the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle, Ladakh.
An Indian astronomer has posted a stunning time-lapse video of Earth’s rotation shot from the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Hanle, Ladakh. The clip features the planet’s movement from sunrise to sunset, along with the beauty of the Milky Way. The observatory’s high altitude, clear skies and almost no distractions offer the perfect spot for stargazing.
For over four nights, the astronomer used advanced technology to capture the breathtaking footage, but the process had its challenges. Harsh conditions, including freezing temperatures that drained camera batteries quickly, as well as storage and timer issues, made the task even harder. Despite these obstacles, the video turned out just perfect.
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On X (Formerly known as Twitter), the astronomer wrote, “A Day in Motion – Capturing Earth’s Rotation. The stars remain still, but Earth never stops spinning. My goal was to capture a full 24-hour time-lapse, revealing the transition from day to night and back again. Initially planned to frame Orion, but it was too high in the sky 4 my latitude. Extreme cold made things tougher, draining batteries faster & pushing my equipment to its limits."
What seemed like a straightforward idea turned into a test of equipment,endurance and patience.Initially planned to frame Orion, but it was too high in the sky 4 my latitude. Extreme cold made things tougher, draining batteries faster &pushing my equipment to its limits (2/n)
— Dorje Angchuk (@dorje1974) January 31, 2025
Reacting to the post, a user wrote, “Should be shown to school children. Nothing like seeing the words of a geography lesson come alive."
Another shared, “Great to see this beautiful natural phenomenon, tracking is bang on and must’ve been really hard without special equipment. Would love to see the moonlit sky of Ladakh in a similar project."
One more added, “Once in a while things like these trigger the feeling that there is much more to life than we can even imagine."
The astronomer shared that each attempt helped him learn and improve his setup. He used a tracker to guide the motion and a mobile system to adjust the exposure. After a lot of work, he was able to capture a smooth sequence.
This idea cropped up when I was asked incase a timelapse can be done so that students can understand the earth rotation through a video.It would have been more interesting frame with wider angle lens (5/n)— Dorje Angchuk (@dorje1974) January 31, 2025
Despite that, the editing process was tricky. He had to crop parts of the video because the framing wasn’t perfect. Despite all the challenges, he claimed that the attempt was worth it. The idea for the project started when someone suggested creating a time lapse to help students learn about Earth’s rotation.
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