Transcript: 25-29 September

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week we're recording live at the Boise Astronomical Society's August meeting

Cheers

PAUL
The planet Neptune was discovered 160 years ago on the 23rd.

KRIS
Neptune was the first planet X.

RACHEL
Early 19th century astronomers discovered that the planet Uranus was not located exactly where Newton's laws of motion and gravity predicted it should be.

KRIS
So either Newton's laws failed at the vast distances to Uranus or something was pulling Uranus out of its orbit.

RACHEL
Two mathematicians, Leverrier in France and Adams in England, began analyzing the motions of Uranus to discover where a planet X might be located.

KRIS
By assuming a radius for the orbit of Planet X based on the Titus-Bode Law, both Leverrier and Adams came up with very similar positions.

RACHEL
Adams could not convince English astronomers to look for the new planet. But Leverrier did convince astronomer Galle in Berlin to look for it.

KRIS
Using a new star chart, Galle and his assistant d'Arrest began checking off stars they saw in their telescope.

PAUL
They didn't have to look long to find an uncharted star that turned out to be a new planet.

RACHEL
Neptune is gas giant that's almost four times larger than earth.

KRIS
It orbits the sun at a distance thirty times greater than earth's.

RACHEL
This creates a year on Neptune lasting 163 earth years long.

KRIS
So Neptune has yet to make one complete orbit around the sun since its discovery.

PAUL
Neptune's largest moon is named Triton and it has a very thin atmosphere.

RACHEL
The Voyage 2 spacecraft detected a geyser erupting on the Triton. That's pretty surprising for a moon that's very cold.

KRIS
Most likely, Triton did not form with Neptune. Instead it escaped from the Kuiper Belt.

RACHEL
So Triton is probably very similar to Pluto.

KRIS
And we'll know for sure next decade when the New Horizon spacecraft zips past Pluto.

PAUL
Thirty-five years ago on the 28th, the Soviet Union launched Luna 19.

RACHEL
Luna 19 was an unmanned space probe sent into orbit around the moon.

KRIS
It carried no cameras. Instead it studied the lunar magnetic field, radiation, and micro-meteoroids.

RACHEL
So basically the space probe was sent to make sure it was safe for humans to visit the moon.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 30th at four AM.

KRIS
So the end of the month and beginning of October will be a great time to go moon watching.

RACHEL
It doesn't take much optical magnification to enjoy the features of the moon. You can even use binoculars. But be sure to steady them against a stationary object like a tree or car.

KRIS
Your lunar views will be better with a little more magnification. But even as little as 25 power is enough.

RACHEL
Setting your telescope's magnification too high magnifies the rotation of earth too much. This makes the moon drift out of the telescope's view of view too fast.

KRIS
That's Idaho Skies for the fourth week of September. Join us next month to hear about the space and astronomy events for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is KrisÖ

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico. Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio.

Transcript: 18-22 September

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the third week of September. We're your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Starting on the 21st, the Zodiacal Light is visible for the next two weeks.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is caused by sunlight reflecting off dust in orbit around the sun.

KRIS
The dust is created by the collision of asteroids and from comet tails.

RACHEL
In dark skies, the Zodiacal Light appears as a tall triangle of faint light.

KRIS
You'll find it rising out of the east and it will have a noticeable tilt to the south. In dark skies it can reach half way to the zenith.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is as bright as the beginning of twilight. But unlike twilight, the Zodiacal Light doesn't lie along the horizon.

KRIS
To see sunlight reflecting off dust in our solar system, look to the east more than an hour before sunrise.

PAUL
Since the sun rises at 7:30 AM, you'll need to be out before 6:30 AM.

RACHEL
Dark adapted eyes are best for viewing the Zodiacal Light, so plan to spend at least 15 minutes outside.

KRIS
One of the best places to see the Zodiacal Light is from the dark skies at Craters of the Moon. And they're having a star party this weekend.

PAUL
The moon is at apogee on the 21st at ten PM. Its distance, which is the greatest for this month, is 252 thousand, 500 miles.

KRIS
That's a lot compared to distances on earth. Even the Apollo astronauts took about three days or 72 hours to cover that distance.

RACHEL
But compared to the rest of the solar system, it's just peanuts. Why the sun is 368 times farther away than that.

KRIS
But if you had to walk to the moon, it would take you until the end of May in 2016 to get there.

RACHEL
Just imagine how many tennis shoes you would go through in that time.

PAUL
It's autumn on the 22nd at ten PM.

RACHEL
The moment autumn begins; the earth is at the autumnal equinox, or that point in its orbit that puts the sun directly over the equator.

KRIS
The word equinox means equal night and it refers to the fact that the day and night are equally long.

RACHEL
This is true for every location on earth. Although technically, refraction by the atmosphere will make the sun rise a few minutes earlier and set a few minutes later.

KRIS
If you could watch our earth from deep space, you'd see that during most of the year the terminator, or boundary between day and night, never passes over the earth's poles.

RACHEL
Instead the terminator would usually be tilted, giving one hemisphere more than 12 hours of sunlight and the opposite hemisphere less than 12 hours.

PAUL
Only at the equator would there always be 12 hours of sunlight.

KRIS
But at the equinox the terminator runs from pole to pole, giving every location on earth 12 hours of day light.

RACHEL
This can only occur at the moment when the earth's rotation axis is tipped neither towards nor away from the sun.

KRIS
And that happens twice each year, at the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn.

RACHEL
So enjoy today's equal day and night. For the next six months, the nights will be longer than the day.

KRIS
That's far better than it is at the North Pole. There the sun is setting for the next six months.

RACHEL
And that's Idaho Skies for the third week of September. Next week our topic is the first planet X.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: 11-15 September

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Forty years ago on the 12th, astronauts Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon were rocketed into space.

KRIS
Conrad and Gordon were launched onboard the two-man Gemini 11. This was the second to last Gemini mission.

RACHEL
The goals of Gemini 11 were to dock with a second spacecraft and practice spacewalking.

KRIS
Their docking with the Agena rocket was very successful and again demonstrated that the Apollo astronauts would be able to successfully dock.

RACHEL
The Agena carried its own rocket engine. So after docking with it, the Gemini 11 astronauts fired its engine and placed themselves into a much higher orbit.

KRIS
They reached an altitude of over 800 miles. That's higher than any astronauts have every orbited the earth. Only the Apollo astronauts have traveled higher.

RACHEL
While the docking worked as planned, the same cannot be said about their spacewalk.

KRIS
Space walks, or EVAs, were far more difficult than NASA anticipated.

RACHEL
EVA stands for extravehicular activity and the term sounds far more professional than space walking.

KRIS
The reason EVAs were so difficult is that the Gemini space suits were not nearly flexible enough once they were pressurized.

RACHEL
Also the environmental controls inside the suit were primitive compared to the Apollo and Space Shuttle suits.

KRIS
Because of their spacesuit's stiffness, Gemini astronauts had to exert a lot of effort just to do simple tasks.

RACHEL
Every time they bent am arm or leg, it decreased the volume of their spacesuit and increased its pressure resisting their bending.

PAUL
The astronauts could get dangerously hot trying to move around in their suits if they weren't careful.

KRIS
Because of the coldness of space, the visors of their space helmets would fog up from their perspiration, making it difficult to see.

RACHEL
Today's Space Shuttle astronauts wear a water cooled garment beneath their far more flexible space suits.

KRIS
So Shuttle astronauts can easily work for eight hours in their space suits. That's far better then the Gemini astronauts of forty years ago.

PAUL
But the Space Shuttle suits are not designed for walking on moons or planets.

RACHEL
That's because their boots are not durable enough and their back packs are too heavy.

KRIS
So NASA is working on new designs for planetary suits.

RACHEL
These will be lighter and have easy to maintain features.

KRIS
That's important when you consider how abrasive the dust on the moon and Mars will be to things like zippers.

PAUL
The moon is at last quarter on the morning of the 14th.

RACHEL
Therefore the moon is only visible after midnight and it sets by noon.

KRIS
That's perfect for next week's star party at the Craters of the Moon.

PAUL
It's held on Friday and Saturday, the 22nd and 23rd.

RACHEL
You can find out more information at the Idaho Falls Astronomical Society website, www.IFAstro.org.

KRIS
The star party is free once you pay admission to the park.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the second week of September. Join us next week to learn about the Zodiacal Light and Autumnal Equinox.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: 4-8 September

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the first week of September. W'e're your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the 7th.

RACHEL
What makes this month's full moon special is that the moon is also near perigee, or at its closest distance to earth this month.

KRIS
Therefore September's full moon is larger than any other full moon in 2006.

RACHEL
September's large full moon is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to begin astrophotography, or taking photographs of astronomical objects.

PAUL
All you need is a camera with a telephoto lens and tripod.

KRIS
Use at least a 200 millimeter telephoto lens with your camera. If you use a shorter focal length lens, the moon's image will be too small in your pictures.

RACHEL
The full moon is so bright that your camera's exposure time is very short. The short exposure time is the reason why you only need a camera tripod and not a telescope mount to photograph the moon.

KRIS
The exposure time should be less than one second. But bracket your exposure times to improve your chances of getting a good photograph.

PAUL
Bracketing means to take several exposures with each exposure set for a different length of time.

RACHEL
After you get a photograph of this full moon write down the camera and lens you used. Then use the same equipment to take another picture of the full moon next year.

KRIS
When you compare the size of the moon images to each other, you'll see that this month's full moon is definitely larger.

PAUL
Besides seeing a large full moon, the earth also experiences larger than average tides.

RACHEL
The closeness of the full moon increases its gravitational pull.

KRIS
But more importantly, it also increases the difference in the force of lunar gravity between the near and far sides of the earth.

PAUL
It's the difference in gravity across the earth that is responsible from raising tides.

RACHEL
So if the moon and sun's gravity was the same on opposite sides of earth, there would be no tides at all.

PAUL
Hey! Guess what's forty years old on the 8th? Star Trek.

KRIS
Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry. His show depicted a futuristic human society that had solved most of their problems and were boldly exploring the galaxy.

RACHEL
By placing topics on strange new worlds, Roddenberry could address science and social issues of the day in a non-threatening manner.

PAUL
It was a good way to get controversial subjects past network censors.

KRIS
You can learn more about this pop phenomenon at the Memory Alpha website, memory dash alpha dot org

PAUL
The Boise Astronomical Society holds it monthly meeting on Friday, the 8th

RACHEL
B-A-S meetings are held at the Discovery Center of Idaho and begin at 7:30 PM.

PAUL
If you're visiting Twin Falls, you can attend the Magic Valley Astronomical Society meeting on Saturday the 9th.

KRIS
M-V-A-S meetings are held at the C-S-I campus in the Herrett Center.

RACHEL
Meetings begin at seven PM and are followed by a star party at the Herrett Center observatory.

KRIS
The Centennial Observatory has the largest handicap accessible telescope in Idaho and admission is free.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the first week of September. Join us next week when our topics are Gemini 11 and space suit design.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

transcript: 28 August - 1 September

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the last week of August. Weíre your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Voyager twoís flyby of the planet Saturn. Currently, Voyager two is located at the outer edge of our solar system.

RACHEL
The first four spacecraft to leave our solar system were the Pioneer ten and eleven and the Voyager one and two.

KRIS
Because these spacecraft would eventually travel to the stars, astronomers, including Carl Sagan, designed monuments to earth for these spacecraft

RACHEL
Pioneer ten and eleven carried simple six by nine inch plaques inscribed with drawings of a man and woman. There are also several diagrams showing the location of our planet and its solar system.

KRIS
In case Voyager two or its twin Voyager one is discovered by intelligent life in the distant future, both spacecraft carry a phonograph record.

PAUL
The records carry much more information than the Pioneer plaques.

RACHEL
Recorded on them are selections of famous music and some of the sounds from some of the animals of earth.

KRIS
There are also images of our technology and the biology of earth.

RACHEL
The Voyager records are predicted to survive in a playable state for another one billion years.

KRIS
Therefore Saganís monument to earth and humanity will out survive life on our little blue planet. That is unless humans do something to prevent the sun from making the earth uninhabitable in the next few hundred million years.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the thirty-first at five PM.

RACHEL
That means its time to begin moon watching again. So get those binoculars or telescope out.

KRIS
And while youíre moon watching, invite your neighbors over.

PAUL
Thirty years ago on the third of September, Viking two landed on Mars.

RACHEL
Viking two was the second successful landing on Mars.

KRIS
Viking two landed at Utopia Planitia, or the Plains of Utopia at nine-fifty AM, local time.

RACHEL
Upon landing, the Viking landers immediately began transmitting an image of one of their footpads. Just in case the Viking two was sinking in Martian quicksand, JPL wanted to know before the landers sank out of sight.

KRIS
Scientists back on earth noticed that one of the Viking two landing legs set down on top of a rock. This gave the lander a noticeable tilt.

RACHEL
Measurements of the Martian surface show it to be an iron-rich clay. The yellow-orange color of the Martian surface is due to the presence of oxidized iron.

PAUL
Hey, thatís rust.

KRIS
On winter nights, the air temperature on the Plains of Utopia can drop to minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

RACHEL
Or ninety degrees colder than Antarctica, the coldest place on earth.

KRIS
On summer days, it can warm up to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, a noticeable improvement.

RACHEL
Viking two ended its communications with earth on April eleventh, 1980.

KRIS
This was an unplanned shut down of Viking two. Commands sent to the lander accidentally told it to point its antenna to the ground.

PAUL
Rather than towards earth, where we could communicate with it.

RACHEL
Thatís Idaho Skies for the last week of August. Join us next month when we will bring you the news of the space and astronomy events in Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is RachelÖ

KRIS
..KrisÖ

PAUL
.. and Paul.