In the Blink of an Eye: Space in an Instant

When we look up at night, the universe seems pretty quiet. But that perspective is an illusion; in reality, there are millions of world-shattering events happening every instant across the cosmos. This short film explores just how much is going on every moment in our ridiculously enormous universe.

In the fraction of a second it takes to blink your eyes, thousands of stars will be born, hundreds will explode and die, millions of planets will form, and our universe will expand by half a million kilometers in diameter.

And these numbers only account for the observable universe -- not for what could be happening beyond, where some scientists believe there could be an infinite expanse of space.

Think next time you blink.

Please note that some of the statistics in this video are wild estimations, and in some cases could be off by orders of magnitude. For a list of sources see below.

Special thanks to:

Franck Marchis
Avi Loeb
Juan Benet
Morrison Waud
Rowdy Jansen
Tim Stupak

and my Patreon supporters:

Ada Cerna, Adam O., Adrian Carroll, Aikanar, AJISH BALAKRISHNAN, Ali Akın Kurnaz, Allan Saddi, ALTEORI, Amanda Vivilacqua, Andrew Edwards, Andrew Lucas, Andrew Valenti, Andy Li, Anton Kudelin, Antoni Simelio, Aydan B, Azodiac, Batuhan Firat, Ben Jones, Bhisham Mahtani, Bradley Gallant, Brant Stokes, Calcifer, Carol Dalrymple, Case K., Casey Stratton, Chiharu Kinjo, Chris Wilken, Christian Oehne, Christina Winikoff, Christopher Heald, Chung Tran, Colin Glover, Confused Cabal, Cooper Ferguson, Crystal, Dan Alvesved, Dani Bonilla, Daniil Dziaruhin, Dave LeCompte, David Lyneham, David Southpaw, denise frey, Dexter, Dharamjit, Dhruv Biswas, dixon1829, Draganox Deathwater, Dylan Webb, Ed Thee Goose, Eico Neumann, Eugenio Birikh, Franck Marchis, FreakVenDor, Gaétan Marras, Gary Wei, geekiskhan, Genesplicer, Genji Lim, Ghost1984, Giovanni Varrica, Giulia C., Håkon A. Hjortland, Handy Prints, Hans Husurianto, Henry R. Seymour, Heribert Breidsamer, Hipst3r, Iota Katari, is8ac, Isaac, Isabella Valiukas, IsThisRealLife, Jack E, Jackie Pham, Jake, James O'Connor, Jason Tranter, Jayson Hale, Jean Neyrial, Jessica Turner, Jimperator, JM_Borg, Jordan Johnson, Jordi Malaret, Jose Contreras, Joshua Oram, JousterL, Julian Büttner, Julio Hernández Camero, K Hoang, kane baker, kaynen brown, Kazuki Fujita, Kemelvor Kemaltar, Kristin & Alan Cameron, Krzysztof Lipka, Laine Boswell, Lars Støttrup Nielsen, Laura, Laura Liddington, LemonHead, Lennart Klootwijk, lloll887, Lucky Wolf, Malte Wegmann, Manu Galán García, Maraiu, Markus Oinonen, Marlin Balzer, Martin Majernik, Matt Lygate, Matthew Jacoby, Matthew Ullrich, Mauricio Coen, Maxime Marois, Mehdi Bennani, Michael Li, Michaela Belmont, Michelle Wilcox, Mike Norkus, Mike Wang, Mind Wave, Mitchel Humpherys, Mohammed Aldaabil, moventosh, Nikita Temryazansky, Nina, Nina Barton, onno424, Patrick Keim, Patrick Schouten, Pierre-Étienne Poulin, ProfDrHodensack, Psychachu, Radu Turcan, Randall, Randy Baril, Raz, RedOptics, redruMKO, Reg Reyes, Renato Aliaga, Richard Sundvall, Richard Williams, Rico Oess, Rob Phillips, Robin Kuenkel, Sam Russell, Sandra, Sarah Daniels, Scott Benesii, Sebastian Berg Rasmussen, Serge Fallmann (SilverFolfy), Silas Rech, SpartanLegends, Specter Ai, Stamx, Stefan, Stephanie McAlea, Sterling Lentz, Steven Santos, Stijn de Ligt, SunaScorpion, Surut, SymeSynth, T Y, TacticalNewt, Tapio Kinnunen, Terje Berg, The Cleaner, The Fellowship of Bitcoin, Timothy E Plum, Tom Forsey, Trevor Robertson, Verissimus, Vinh Vo, Virtual_271, Whitney Champion, Will Humphrey, William Ronholm, Wise Doane, Wolfgang Bernecker, Yannic, ZAB, Zenith

[melodysheep]

This one's a trip!! Enjoy the video my friends... any questions for me??

[ScorpoYT]

Me: *Blinks*
Universe: cha cha real smooth

[SwarupFitness]

Me: Blinks
Andromeda Galaxy: He's not watching, let me get 27KM closer.

[DoktorWhatson]

Man, your videos are so awesomely editet. I cannot get enough.

[quasarstorm]

Really puts into perspective how big the universe is.
1200 large stars die per second, which tend to have a lifespan of around 500 million years each, if that.
Absolutely mind-boggling.

[yashganar]

No one can reject the fact that this also looks like an epic slideshow of magnificent wallpapers that you would like to keep in as a desktop background

[T]

Me: **blinks**

300 stars: *Adios*

30 black holes: *Bonjour*

[jamesstevens]

The cgi and vfx you’re using for these amazing videos are top notch! Your videos are audiovisual masterpieces!

[wr_royalty]

i can’t even imagine how long it took to render this whole video.

[pyush]

"How high quality can you make a 3 min video?"
Melodysheep: Yes

[warpey]

Me: **blinks**
300 stars: _My time has come._

[RandomWonders]

STOP BEING SO GOOD, THIS CHANNEL IS SO UNDERRATED.

[itzsky]

Everyones brain when the video starts:
"Set blink to manual"

[elonhusk]

imagine if all 7 billion of us just rapidly blink and accidentally destroyed the whole universe

[Epicgaymer-kdot]

Me: blinks
A star in the middle of nowhere that probably isn’t even known to humanity: my time has come

[Rittick]

1:45 1st goosebumps (uplifting strings)
2:03 2nd goosebumps next level holy shit

[tlalicetears]

I wish these were at the cinema. I'd happily paid to see all his work in a big cinema screen! Amazing

[alchemister]

Props again to the guy who went out and filmed all this dangerous stuff for us to see.

[MrWarriorAsh]

This guys needs more recognition. Imagine the kind of movies he would produce if he was picked up by a studio with a much bigger budget.

[purplewinds]

You cannot even understand how excited I got when I saw this video