Transcript: 25 - 30 April

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the fourth week of April. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
We end the month of April with the moon, Mars, and Bruneau Dunes State Park.

KRIS
The moon is new on the 27th at 1:44 PM. Usually the moon is not visible for several days after the new moon.

RACHEL
However, some people make a challenge looking for the youngest moon.

KRIS
The record is finding the moon 13 hours after new and that’s pretty tough to do.

RACHEL
It’s difficult because a young moon is close to the sun and therefore only visible low in the west during dusk.

PAUL
While Idahoans can’t break the record this month, you might be able to set a record for yourself.

RACHEL
The sun sets in the west-northwest at 8:42 tomorrow, the 28th, and the moon sets in the same place at 10:26.

KRIS
That means you have a 90 minute window to find the moon.

RACHEL
To increase the contrast between the moon and sky, begin looking for the moon a fist width above the west-northwest horizon at 9:30.

KRIS
The moon will be difficult to find, but if you can find that faint sliver, the moon will be less than 32 hours old.

RACHEL
While not a record, it’s far younger than most people have seen.

PAUL
Let’s stick with the moon for a moment longer. The moon is your guide to the red planet on the evening of May 1ST.

KRIS
Mars is the yellow-orange star to the left of the thin crescent moon. Their distance apart is equal to the width of three fingers when your arm is fully outstretched.

RACHEL
Earth orbits the sun inside the orbit of Mars. This means earth orbits the sun faster than Mars.

KRIS
So our planet is pulling way ahead of Mars. Mars is now growing smaller and fainter by the day.

PAUL
But as earth orbits the sun, Mars is also doing the same.

RACHEL
It takes an average of 26 months before earth can catch up with Mars again.

KRIS
That’s when Mars again grows larger and brighter in our night time sky.

PAUL
Did you know the largest telescope in Idaho is just an hour’s drive away?

RACHEL
That’s right. The Bruneau Dunes State Park is home to a telescope with a 25 inch diameter mirror.

KRIS
A mirror this size gathers 10,000 times more light than your eye.

PAUL
With the Bruneau Dunes telescope you can see faint nebula and distant galaxies.

RACHEL
Jupiter and Saturn are spectacular though the telescope.

KRIS
You’ll see earth-sized cloud belts on Jupiter and divisions within the rings of Saturn.

RACHEL
The Bruneau Dunes observatory is open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights this Spring, Summer, and Fall.

KRIS
Bob Neimeyer, who operates the telescope, is happy to leave the telescope open for as long as the public wants to view.

RACHEL
But before the telescope opens, Bob gives a presentation on the latest information on space and astronomy.

KRIS
To really see the stars in the Treasure Valley this year, plan to spend a night at the Bruneau Dunes State Park.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of April. Join us next week to hear about the astronomical happenings in Idaho and beyond. For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: 18 - 24 April

PAUL

Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the second week of April. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL

..Rachel..

KRIS

..And Kris

PAUL

We have two space anniversaries and a full moon this week.

RACHEL

The 12th is the anniversary of humanity’s first, brief step into the vastness of space with the launch of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

KRIS

Yuri’s spacecraft was launched from a secret Soviet space port on April 12th 1961. However, his launch was not announced until 25 minutes later, when the Soviets could verify he was actually orbiting the earth.

PAUL

His Vostok 1 spacecraft made a single orbit around the earth before firing its retro rocket and returning to earth.

KRIS

Since Vostok’s recovery parachute wasn’t very large, Yuri ejected from his spacecraft before it landed.

RACHEL

There were a total of six Vostok flights, and one of them carried the first woman into space. Another 20 years passed before the second woman traveled into space.

KRIS

Yuri never flew into space again. This hero of the Soviet Union died March 1968 in a jet crash while training for his second flight.

PAUL

The world honors Gagarin’s accomplishment on the 12th with a celebration called Yuri's Night.

RACHEL

You can find more information about Yuri’s Night at its website, www.yurisnight.net

PAUL

Can you believe it, the Space Shuttle is 25 years old!

KRIS

On April 12th, 1981, the first Space Shuttle was launched into space.

RACHEL

Onboard the Columbia were astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen.

KRIS

This was the first launch for Crippen but the fourth for Young.

RACHEL

While the Space Shuttle will never be as productive as promised, it has carried important payloads like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Galileo spacecraft.

PAUL

The moon is full at noon on the 13TH. The full moon of April is often called the Grass or Egg Moon.

KRIS

Tonight if you look at the full moon with your binoculars, your eyes will be overwhelmed by bright moon light.

PAUL

But remember, moonlight is just reflected sunlight.

RACHEL

And although it appears very bright, the moon is very dark. Only 7% of the sunlight shining on it is reflected from the surface.

KRIS

That makes its one of the poorest reflectors in the solar system and as dark as asphalt.

RACHEL

The moon appears bright only because it’s relatively large in our sky and very close. If instead of the moon, a brighter Saturnian satellite like Enceladus orbited earth, we’d be blinded looking at the moon.

PAUL

On the night of the 17TH, Mars passes less than 1 degree from the star cluster, M-35.

RACHEL

M-35 is a star cluster in the constellation Gemini. It’s a nice star cluster for your binoculars.

KRIS

Mars will be the pale orange star one-third of the way above the western horizon.

RACHEL

Put your binoculars on Mars and you’ll find M-35 just to the lower left of Mars. Both will easily fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

KRIS

You’ll need dark skies to see M-35 well, so go to a city park to look for this star cluster.

PAUL

That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of April. Join us next week when we’ll tell you when to look for April’s meteor shower. For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS

..Kris..

RACHEL

.. and Rachel.

Transcript: 11 - 17 April

PAULWelcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the second week of April.
We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL..Rachel..

KRIS..And Kris

PAULWe have two space anniversaries and a full moon this week.

RACHELThe 12th is the anniversary of humanity’s first, brief step into the
vastness of space with the launch of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

KRISYuri’s spacecraft was launched from a secret Soviet space port on April
12th 1961. However, his launch was not announced until 25 minutes later,
when the Soviets could verify he was actually orbiting the earth.

PAULHis Vostok 1 spacecraft made a single orbit around the earth before firing
its retro rocket and returning to earth.

KRISSince Vostok’s recovery parachute wasn’t very large, Yuri ejected from his
spacecraft before it landed.

RACHELThere were a total of six Vostok flights, and one of them carried the
first woman into space. Another 20 years passed before the second woman
traveled into space.

KRISYuri never flew into space again. This hero of the Soviet Union died
March 1968 in a jet crash while training for his second flight.

PAULThe world honors Gagarin’s accomplishment on the 12th with a celebration
called Yuri's Night.

RACHELYou can find more information about Yuri’s Night at its website, www.yurisnight.net

PAULCan you believe it, the Space Shuttle is 25 years old!

KRISOn April 12th, 1981, the first Space Shuttle was launched into space.

RACHELOnboard the Columbia were astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen.

KRISThis was the first launch for Crippen but the fourth for Young.

RACHELWhile the Space Shuttle will never be as productive as promised, it has
carried important payloads like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Galileo
spacecraft.

PAULThe moon is full at noon on the 13TH. The full moon of April is often
called the Grass or Egg Moon.

KRISTonight if you look at the full moon with your binoculars, your eyes will
be overwhelmed by bright moon light.

PAULBut remember, moonlight is just reflected sunlight.

RACHELAnd although it appears very bright, the moon is very dark. Only 7% of
the sunlight shining on it is reflected from the surface.

KRISThat makes its one of the poorest reflectors in the solar system and as
dark as asphalt.

RACHELThe moon appears bright only because it’s relatively large in our sky and
very close. If instead of the moon, a brighter Saturnian satellite like
Enceladus orbited earth, we’d be blinded looking at the moon.

PAULOn the night of the 17TH, Mars passes less than 1 degree from the star
cluster, M-35.

RACHELM-35 is a star cluster in the constellation Gemini. It’s a nice star
cluster for your binoculars.

KRISMars will be the pale orange star one-third of the way above the western
horizon.

RACHELPut your binoculars on Mars and you’ll find M-35 just to the lower left of
Mars. Both will easily fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

KRISYou’ll need dark skies to see M-35 well, so go to a city park to look for
this star cluster.

PAULThat’s Idaho Skies for the second week of April. Join us next week when
we’ll tell you when to look for April’s meteor shower. For Idaho Skies
this is Paul.

KRIS..Kris..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.

Transcript: 4 - 10 April

PAULWelcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the first week of April. We're your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL..Rachel..

KRIS..And Kris

PAULBecause our earth rotates tipped at a 23 degree angle, the time of sunrise and sunset changes during the course of the year.

RACHELOne consequence of this is Daylight Savings time.

KRISIn winter the sun rises and sets pretty late at 8:17 AM and 5:09 PM. But on the first day of summer, the sun would rise and set at 5:05 AM and 8:28 PM if no adjustments were made.

PAULTo keep the sun from rising and setting too early in the summer, Benjamin Franklin proposed the United States set its clocks back by one hour in the Spring.

RACHELSince farmers stay up late during the summer, a day that ended later would reduce the number of candles burned at night.

KRISAnd near the beginning of Autumn, the clocks would be set back so the sun didn't rise and set too late.

RACHELSo when you set your clocks forward one hour on the night of April first, remember Ben Franklin and how our planet's inclination effects the rising and setting of the sun.

PAULIf you have a moderately sized telescope, you can watch two moon shadows drift across the face of Jupiter.

KRISBetween 3:30 and 3:45 AM on the morning of the fifth, the shadows of the moons Io and Ganymede simultaneous travel across the Jovian cloud tops.

RACHELThe easiest shadow to see belongs to the moon Ganymede. Through a telescope which normally inverts images, Ganymede's shadow is the dark spot on the bottom right of Jupiter.

KRISLocated on the bottom left will be Io's more difficult to see shadow.

RACHELGanymede is a giant moon. It's the largest in the solar system and one third larger than our moon.

KRISGanymede has an icy crust and small iron core. It may even have a salty ocean hidden beneath its surface.

PAULThe moon is at first quarter on the 5th at 6:00 AM.

RACHELThis makes the night of the 6th an excellent time to go moon watching with your binoculars or small telescope.

KRISYou'll see more lunar detail through your binoculars if you can hold them steady against a wall or fence.

PAULThe moon is at apogee on the morning of the 9th.

RACHELSo the moon will be its greatest distance from the earth this month. And in April, that distance is 252 thousand miles away.

KRISThat's just under 16 billion inches.

RACHELAs you watch the moon, it's approaching earth at an average speed of 77 miles per hour. So in two weeks time, the moon will be at its closest to earth for the month.

PAULThat's Idaho Skies for the first week of April. Join us next week when we'll tell you about two space anniversaries.
For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

RACHEL..Rachel..

KRIS.. and Kris.