While the naked-eye observability of this event will be very limited (less than one hour after sunset), I'd like to offer up a challenge to my fellow club members; weather permitting, let's see what kinds of images we can collectively record of this event. These two planets will be very close from 4pm to after sunset. We have a lot of very talented people in this club, and this will make for a great challenge for them.
The two planets should easily fit into a telescopic field of view, at what power of course depends upon your equipment. The challenge will be to find them in the clear blue sky ((if luck is on our side) while they're high enough to work with some relatively steady air. They'll be elongated about 22* from the sun on that day, so while not especially dangerous, please do be careful anyway. The bigger factor will be the sun's glare which will make it more difficult to see the planets. Jupiter alone would be very hard to see at mag -1.8, but Venus being at mag -3.9 will make finding the duo easier.
How to image them will be another part of the challenge. I'm hoping to actually deploy a tracking setup this time, as opposed to my usual dob mount attempts. With a tracking setup I'll be looking forward to being freed up to experiment with imaging techniques beyond my usual snapshot-through-the-eyepiece routine. At least that's what I'm hoping for.
So let's do this! Let's drop the swords and do what we came here for - astronomy related activities. Step up and lets see what you've got! There's too much talent laying dormant around here and it's a shame. If it sounds like I'm calling you all out, well, I guess I am. This club was a lot more active in shared enthusiasm for these sorts of things back when I joined it about five to six years ago, and from what I could tell back then, it was insanely active before that. Where'd it go? And the bigger question yet; can it be brought back? I'd like to think so.
To get the juices flowing I'll throw down a couple of examples from last year's closest Jupiter/Venus interaction. One in the form of a nightscape scene and one though the telescope in broad daylight;
So seriously, why not participate in this challenge? And if you've got some ideas for challenges too, throw 'em down! What are you waiting for? A written invitation? Well you just got one!
