Hat tip to Slate for this video. We sometimes have trouble with videos from Vimeo, so if you can’t see it once posted, please click the link, enjoy three minutes and change of something quite beautiful and (as a matter of videography) impressive, and then come back here to comment.
I’ll limit myself to taking this much of a quote from the Slate article (it’s worth going there to read the rest):
The video was taken on Jan. 28, 2013 by photographer Mark Gee, who made the attempt several times before finally capturing the event. This isn’t an example of the famous Moon Illusion, where the Moon looks huge on the horizon, though. He wanted to get the silhouetted people walking around, so he camped over two kilometers away from the Mount Victoria lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. Using a telephoto and exquisite pre-planning (not to mention aim), he was able to show the people who, at that distance, were barely able to be seen by the naked eye. It’s the magnification of the lens that makes the moon look so big.
Here’s a visual taste:
Something a little gorgeous to start off your weekend.
This is your Weekend Open Thread. Talk about what you will, within bounds of reason and decency.
That is awesome! It is all about focus in on want you want to catch…just like life.
The best part of it is that the moon kept its distance! Come on, meteors and asteroids, respect our planetary body space!
I am mesmerized. Is anyone else making up their own stories for the people? I am jealous of the guy (yes, I am presuming a guy) in the big back pack…hiking around New Zealand by himself trying to find himself. And all the kids running up to their parents.
The guys at JPL saw the one that missed us, but never saw the one that hit us.
Not very comforting.
The one that hit us was considerably smaller (as well as being a meteor rather than an asteroid), so while eventually technology will allow us to spot it as well it’s not as much of a concern. Admittedly, it would have done some serious damage had it landed on …
Hey, I’m going to stop right there! Look for a new article shortly.
Palomar Mountain, in northern San Diego, is another awesome place to observe the universe. An observatory operated by Caltech is open to the public. It is a nice day trip. If you avoid stopping at the casinos, you will end up in a forest with beautiful mountain views. At night, the stars are spectacular.
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/