Missed Mercury Transit
Once again, living in Waterbury has proven to be an absolutely miserable geographic choice for viewing anything in the sky other than clouds. I'm certain that we must see less sky throughout the year than people in rainy Seattle. As a result of snowy weather, I missed the last planetary solar transit that I will be able to see in my lifetime. To say that I am disappointed is a wild understatement.
This past Monday morning, Mercury passed in front of the sun. This doesn't happen all that often. The next time we will have an opportunity to watch this event will be in 2032... but, not from the United States. Unfortunately, during this event this past Monday, we had snow falling out of the sky here in Waterbury during the entire six hour event.
I spent a lot of time planning for this astronomical event. I spent a lot of time and energy ensuring all my gear is ready to go. I planned how I wanted to image and video the event too. I even built some new gear just for this event.
Here are the satellite views of our area during this event... we were complete socked in with clouds and snow...
Since I could not see this event with my own eyes through my own optics (in this case, telescopes), I did the next best thing and viewed the event on my 4K desktop computer.
Unfortunately, viewing an event such as this in this manner is kind of dull and no different than watching a television show about the event. Viewing this way is nothing like being outside and peering through your own telescopes as the event progresses. Seeing this event, visually, with your own eyes through your own scope is the exciting way to view an astronomical event. Imaging it and capturing video of it through your own optics is also exciting. Watching it on a desktop monitor or television is not the same... not at all... but that is the only option I had and is the next best thing.
My first online stop was at NASA. I got to see some relatively real-time video of the event through NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The one saving grace about watching the event in this way was that I could view the event in various light wavelengths. This first one, below, is in Hydrogen Alpha light showing the chromosphere and the photosphere of the sun. To simplify things, Ha light shows the fiery parts of the sun's surface...
The next image was captured from a video from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in white light. The texture you see on the sun surface here is bubbling granulation... This is what I would have seen through my own telescopes if the weather was clear, for a change...
I am also a member of Slooh so I had some access to a live broadcast through one of their telescopes. In this case, if I remember correctly, this was the view through their 1.5 meter solar telescope on the Canary Islands. Mercury is the tiny black dot on the left side of the screen...
What is frustrating is, in my opinion, watching an event through electronics and monitors is nothing like viewing through the lens of a telescope with your own eyes. I can view any of the above videos and images at any time but I had planned (and hoped) to watch this live through my own optics in my own backyard.
I can go back and watch hundreds of videos of this event as well as previous events long ago through video found online in places like YouTube. Having access to all these videos and images is definitely a very good thing but it is not the same as viewing through your own optics.
The climate in Waterbury ruined my plans once again.
This past Monday morning, Mercury passed in front of the sun. This doesn't happen all that often. The next time we will have an opportunity to watch this event will be in 2032... but, not from the United States. Unfortunately, during this event this past Monday, we had snow falling out of the sky here in Waterbury during the entire six hour event.
I spent a lot of time planning for this astronomical event. I spent a lot of time and energy ensuring all my gear is ready to go. I planned how I wanted to image and video the event too. I even built some new gear just for this event.
Here are the satellite views of our area during this event... we were complete socked in with clouds and snow...
Since I could not see this event with my own eyes through my own optics (in this case, telescopes), I did the next best thing and viewed the event on my 4K desktop computer.
Unfortunately, viewing an event such as this in this manner is kind of dull and no different than watching a television show about the event. Viewing this way is nothing like being outside and peering through your own telescopes as the event progresses. Seeing this event, visually, with your own eyes through your own scope is the exciting way to view an astronomical event. Imaging it and capturing video of it through your own optics is also exciting. Watching it on a desktop monitor or television is not the same... not at all... but that is the only option I had and is the next best thing.
My first online stop was at NASA. I got to see some relatively real-time video of the event through NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The one saving grace about watching the event in this way was that I could view the event in various light wavelengths. This first one, below, is in Hydrogen Alpha light showing the chromosphere and the photosphere of the sun. To simplify things, Ha light shows the fiery parts of the sun's surface...
The next image was captured from a video from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in white light. The texture you see on the sun surface here is bubbling granulation... This is what I would have seen through my own telescopes if the weather was clear, for a change...
I am also a member of Slooh so I had some access to a live broadcast through one of their telescopes. In this case, if I remember correctly, this was the view through their 1.5 meter solar telescope on the Canary Islands. Mercury is the tiny black dot on the left side of the screen...
What is frustrating is, in my opinion, watching an event through electronics and monitors is nothing like viewing through the lens of a telescope with your own eyes. I can view any of the above videos and images at any time but I had planned (and hoped) to watch this live through my own optics in my own backyard.
I can go back and watch hundreds of videos of this event as well as previous events long ago through video found online in places like YouTube. Having access to all these videos and images is definitely a very good thing but it is not the same as viewing through your own optics.
The climate in Waterbury ruined my plans once again.
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