By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . PUBLISHED: . 09:45 EST, 23 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:41 EST, 24 December 2013 . A beautiful time-lapse of the Milky Way dancing over the incredibly clear night skies of Mauna Kea in Hawaii has been created by an astronomy student. Sean Goebel from the University of Hawaii at Manoa created the video from photographs taken on three consecutive nights in April and four nights over the summer. His video, which instantly went viral, shows the night sky progression over Mauna Kea, a 4,207 metre (13,803-foot) mountain on Hawaii's Big Island, along with its many telescopes. Scroll down for video... The video, which instantly went viral, shows the night sky progression over Mauna Kea, a 4,207 metre (13,803-foot) mountain on Hawaii's Big Island, along with its many telescopes. Pictured here is the Keck observatory . The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by eleven countries. The combined light-gathering power of the telescopes on Mauna Kea is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California -- for many years the world's largest. It is also sixty times greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Keck, Gemini and Subaru telescopes within the complex all have lasers, which are used to remove the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere. The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by eleven countries. Pictured is the Gemini telescope . The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory. The telescopes in the area are operated by astronomers from eleven countries. Their combined light-gathering power is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California. It is also sixty times greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. Mauna Kea is unique as an astronomical observing site.  The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry -- which is important in measuring infrared and submillimeter radiation from celestial sources. The proportion of clear nights in the area is among the highest in the world. ‘Just as waves of heat coming off . pavement blur out the detail in faraway objects, winds in the atmosphere . blur out fine detail in the stars, galaxies and whatever is being . observed,’ explained Mr Goebel. ‘The . laser is used to track this atmospheric turbulence, and one of the . mirrors in the telescope bends hundreds of times per second in order to . cancel out the blurring.’ Mr Goebel set up his cameras on nights when the weather was clear, the moon was small and when he knew the telescopes would be running the lasers. Astronomers are currently using the lasers to observe the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The proportion of clear nights in this region is among some of the highest in the world. Using a Canon 5D Mk. II and Rebel XT Mr Goebel took 300 one minute exposures, with an average scene taking about five hours to film. The Keck, Gemini and Subaru telescopes within the complex all have lasers, which are used to remove the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere . Using a Canon 5D Mk. II and Rebel XT Mr Goebel took 300 one minute exposures, with an average scene taking about five hours to film . Mr Goebel set up his cameras on nights when the weather was clear, the moon was small and when he knew the telescopes would be running the lasers . The conditions meant that Mr Goebel often suffered from altitude sickness during filming. ‘I've had my vision fade out, have lost my balance, and have needed to stop to catch my breath while hiking around at night,’ he said. To create motion in the scenes, the student used a home-built rotary table and later edited the images to create the video. Mr Goebel has made several other time-lapse videos in the past, including of Yosemite and Death Valley in California- but this one has proved particuarly popular. 'Time lapse of the night skies is awesome. Telescopes are awesome, too. Throw in some 1-ft-wide lasers, and then it's even better,' he said. The telescopes in the area are operated by astronomers from eleven countries. Pictured is the Gemini observatory - an 8.1-metre telescope operated by a consortium of seven countries . Their combined light-gathering power of is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California . Conditions meant that Mr Goebel often suffered from altitude sickness during filming. 'I've had my vision fade out, have lost my balance, and have needed to stop to catch my breath while hiking around at night,' he said .
Sean Goebel created the .
video from photographs taken over seven nights .
Video shows the telescopes and lasers at work at Manuna Kea in Hawaii .
Manuna Kea is world's largest observatory located on a 4,207m mountain .
Observatory is currently looking at the black hole at centre of the Milky Way .
By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . PUBLISHED: . 09:45 EST, 23 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:41 EST, 24 December 2013 . A beautiful time-lapse of the Milky Way dancing over the incredibly clear night skies of Mauna Kea in Hawaii has been created by an astronomy student. Sean Goebel from the University of Hawaii at Manoa created the video from photographs taken on three consecutive nights in April and four nights over the summer. His video, which instantly went viral, shows the night sky progression over Mauna Kea, a 4,207 metre (13,803-foot) mountain on Hawaii's Big Island, along with its many telescopes. Scroll down for video... The video, which instantly went viral, shows the night sky progression over Mauna Kea, a 4,207 metre (13,803-foot) mountain on Hawaii's Big Island, along with its many telescopes. Pictured here is the Keck observatory . The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by eleven countries. The combined light-gathering power of the telescopes on Mauna Kea is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California -- for many years the world's largest. It is also sixty times greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Keck, Gemini and Subaru telescopes within the complex all have lasers, which are used to remove the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere. The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory, with telescopes operated by eleven countries. Pictured is the Gemini telescope . The summit of Mauna Kea on the Island of Hawaii hosts the world's largest astronomical observatory. The telescopes in the area are operated by astronomers from eleven countries. Their combined light-gathering power is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California. It is also sixty times greater than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. Mauna Kea is unique as an astronomical observing site.  The atmosphere above the mountain is extremely dry -- which is important in measuring infrared and submillimeter radiation from celestial sources. The proportion of clear nights in the area is among the highest in the world. ‘Just as waves of heat coming off . pavement blur out the detail in faraway objects, winds in the atmosphere . blur out fine detail in the stars, galaxies and whatever is being . observed,’ explained Mr Goebel. ‘The . laser is used to track this atmospheric turbulence, and one of the . mirrors in the telescope bends hundreds of times per second in order to . cancel out the blurring.’ Mr Goebel set up his cameras on nights when the weather was clear, the moon was small and when he knew the telescopes would be running the lasers. Astronomers are currently using the lasers to observe the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The proportion of clear nights in this region is among some of the highest in the world. Using a Canon 5D Mk. II and Rebel XT Mr Goebel took 300 one minute exposures, with an average scene taking about five hours to film. The Keck, Gemini and Subaru telescopes within the complex all have lasers, which are used to remove the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere . Using a Canon 5D Mk. II and Rebel XT Mr Goebel took 300 one minute exposures, with an average scene taking about five hours to film . Mr Goebel set up his cameras on nights when the weather was clear, the moon was small and when he knew the telescopes would be running the lasers . The conditions meant that Mr Goebel often suffered from altitude sickness during filming. ‘I've had my vision fade out, have lost my balance, and have needed to stop to catch my breath while hiking around at night,’ he said. To create motion in the scenes, the student used a home-built rotary table and later edited the images to create the video. Mr Goebel has made several other time-lapse videos in the past, including of Yosemite and Death Valley in California- but this one has proved particuarly popular. 'Time lapse of the night skies is awesome. Telescopes are awesome, too. Throw in some 1-ft-wide lasers, and then it's even better,' he said. The telescopes in the area are operated by astronomers from eleven countries. Pictured is the Gemini observatory - an 8.1-metre telescope operated by a consortium of seven countries . Their combined light-gathering power of is fifteen times greater than that of the Palomar telescope in California . Conditions meant that Mr Goebel often suffered from altitude sickness during filming. 'I've had my vision fade out, have lost my balance, and have needed to stop to catch my breath while hiking around at night,' he said .
an astronomy student. Sean Goebel from the University of Hawaii at Manoa created the video from photographs taken on three consecutive viral, shows the night sky progression over Mauna the telescopes on Mauna Kea is fifteen times world's largest astronomical observatory, with lasers to observe the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. The proportion of clear nights in