A propos of the solar eclipse coming tomorrow, here’s a video set to music of another relatively rare solar phenomenon: a transit of Mercury. About 13 times per century Mercury passes between the earth and the sun. That small black dot you see moving across the face of the sun in this video is the planet Mercury. The most recent occurrence of a transit was a little over a year ago on May 9th, 2016, from 4:12 am – 11:42 am PDT. The orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory obtained an uninterrupted vista, recording it not only in optical light but also in bands of ultraviolet light. Featured here is a composite movie of the crossing set to music.

Credit for this video goes to: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Genna Duberstein; the images are from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. Credit for the music: Encompass by Mark Petrie.

We at San Diego Free Press love watching all kinds of video. Those short visual stories entertain, inform, and agitate in a way completely different from the written word.

Since our platform is about expressing ideas and ideals instead of cash flow, clicks, or fundraising, we have the freedom to include a wide range of topics and formats that might not work elsewhere. We don’t need or want paid content, promotional materials, or story lines designed to please donors.

So the idea here is to present videos one or more of the editors feel speaks to them. Sometimes it will be news. Sometimes it will be history. And a lot of the time it will be culture. You can not and should not separate these things: it is diversity and intersectionality that makes our movement strong.

Feel free to suggest videos at contact@sandiegofreepress.org

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