I had my 12 inch telescope on this morning. I've got a neat shot of venus and jupiter under high power. Too bad it was through some trees and are completely garbled.
I am surprised that Astronomy Now would call this a “great conjunction”.
A great conjunction, in astronomy parlance, means just one thing: a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Which, by the way, has a 20 year periodicity. We just had one in December 2020.
They'll still be fairly close together when they rise tomorrow morning. They're very close right now, but would be hard to observe while the sun's above the horizon, and they'll set before the sun this evening.
I appreciate your comment because even some astronomically rare events aren't worth the toll on our personal lives and schedules to see them.
That said, if you ever get the chance to see a total eclipse of the sun, do not for your life miss it. It's an experience that elevates your intuition of the universe and your place in it, and the sensory feeling of it is all encompassing.
Agree, the experience of an eclipse is something you really shouldn't miss out on.
The weirdest thing for me was how cold it got, even though the intensity of the light didn't change. Everything looked as if it was still full daylight, but it felt so very, very wrong. It really helped you understand how an event like that could scare people before astronomy, since it's like removing a huge constant of life, throwing everything into uncertainty.
The second thing you really should have on your bucket list is the northern lights. Not exactly astronomy, but you're looking at a night sky, so... The most surprising thing about the northern lights is how big it is. Pictures don't do it justice, it's not a thing in the sky, instead the entire sky is on fire and wobbling.
