Eyes on the Sky: Mar 5 thru Mar 11

[magic612]

The big astronomical conjunction this month is the one involving Jupiter and Venus in the western sky. Though they reach conjunction (closest point) on only one evening, they spend a total of 6 evenings within 4 degrees of each other. Take a look through binoculars to spot both, or if your scope is out, note the superb double star that is nearby.

Also, elusive Mercury is rarely spotted by amateur astronomers because the window of opportunity to see it is so small - just after sunset or before sunrise. Early this week it is an easy find as it reaches greatest elongation. And don't miss the dance between the Moon, Mars and Saturn all week, best seen around midnight.

[magic612]

Hmmm... not sure how I managed to double post (the other thread didn't link to the video), so this is probably the better thread to reply in.

Any way mods can delete the other, "extra" thread by the same title?

[magic612]

Anyone manage to spot Mercury this evening? I caught it as it rotated below some clouds I thought might obscure it from view:

[Nexus 6]

Nice work magic.

I did have a decent view of it earlier yesterday, it was at the latest meeting of our astronomy group over here. It showed a clear phase which was a bonus to observe.

Hope it stays clear for you on the 13th for the Venus Jupiter meet up

[magic612]

Alan, great to hear you had a nice view of it, and even spotted the phase - definitely a bonus! I hope it stays clear next week as well, but both planets will be pretty close for 6 days, so at least one of them has GOT to be clear! (I hope...)

[Nexus 6]

Hi magic,

I see from your location you are in the middle of a light polluted big city! Must be a drag, well done in getting your video of the action on the Suns closest neighbour posted up here.

Hope you have many more to come.

[magic612]

Hi magic,

I see from your location you are in the middle of a light polluted big city! Must be a drag, well done in getting your video of the action on the Suns closest neighbour posted up here.

Hope you have many more to come.

Well, not quite "in the middle" of it, more like on the southern edge of it. It's still an issue here, but on very clear, transparent nights, I can just make out the Milky Way in about a 90 degree arc overhead. So it's not terrible where I am, yet not great either.

Thanks for the nice compliment. I hope to post more as I have the opportunity - clouds are the bigger issue right now!

[Vince1963]

Hi Dave great video... What gear was you using... Not that i'm an expert...Just a newbe who wants to learn Chers Vince

[magic612]

Hi Dave great video... What gear was you using... Not that i'm an expert...Just a newbe who wants to learn Chers Vince

My gear is nothing special. A Canon Vixia HD camcorder, a couple microphones, a tripod or two, some cheap aluminum worklights with 3500K CFL bulbs in them, a green screen, and Sony Vegas Platinum editing software. There's more ancillary stuff but that's the nuts and bolts of it.

The gear isn't the expensive part, though. It's the time. For each 5 minute video, I put in about 10 hours worth of work by the time I research, write, shoot, compile graphics/animations, edit, render and upload (and that's down from 15 to 20 hours when I started). And if I add even a 10 second "humorous" bit, that tacks on a minimum of 2 to 4 hours. Thing is, though I have used "outside" music and animations and such, I do all of this myself. Those people in the credits just made animations or music that I paid to use - they are not people I know, met, or work with every week. The whole thing is put together by just me, every week.

But my goal - and reason for making them - is to educate about the night sky, and put light pollution on more people's radar. I hope I am make a professional-enough looking product that people will share it on social media, to get the word out there about both the night sky and light pollution issues. So if I accomplish that with a few people, I'm a happy man.

So, please share!