A new video crossed my desk recently: Hawaiian Starlight — Exploring the Universe from Mauna Kea highlights the work of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and its staff astronomer, Jean-Charles Cuillandre. Those of you familiar with Cuillandre’s work at the CFHT are probably already salivating. And you should.
The astronomical images in this video are stunning, but there’s more: Cuillandre has a love for creating terrestrial time-lapse sequences. So, in addition to the Crab Nebula, the Hercules Cluster, and the Whirlpool Galaxy, you’ll also enjoy short time-lapse videos of sunset shadows covering observatory domes, roiling cumulus clouds (remember, at Mauna Kea those clouds are below you), and stars moving across the sky due to Earth’s rotation. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself asking (several times), “What constellation is that?”
In addition to the images — there’s no narration — a soundtrack features the Halo music by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Special features include slide shows (with text) such as “The Physics Behind the Scenes,” “Hawaii’s Natural Beauty,” and “Mauna Kea & the Observatories,” among others.
Cuillandre said that he took 130,000 high-resolution still photos for this video, of which about 50,000 made it into the final film. And with all the sequences and fantastic images, there’s not a single special effect.
Of course, you’ll enjoy just sitting in a comfortable chair watching Hawaiian Starlight, but I can foresee other uses. This video would serve as a great background for an astronomy club party or a get-together of amateur astronomers. I guarantee it will elicit some responses. Likewise, your astronomy club could use it as a conversation starter for an indoor public event like the Astronomy Day celebrations held every April.
To get your own copy of the DVD (it’s $15), go to www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight.
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