Transcript: March Week 4

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Look to the moon’s lower left shortly before midnight on the night of the 27th .

KRIS
There you’ll see a large sprinkle of stars called the Beehive Star Cluster.

RACHEL
The cluster, which appears larger than the moon, is located in the constellation of Cancer the Crab.

KRIS
Cancer is a faint constellation, so you probably won’t notice it.

PAUL
But the Beehive star cluster is quite easily seen with the naked eye in dark skies.

RACHEL
In fact the ancients knew about it. But they only saw it as a tiny cloudy spot.

KRIS
Back then it was used as a weather indicator.

RACHEL
That’s right. If it couldn’t be seen in clear skies, then there were thin clouds overhead.

KRIS
We call these clouds cirrus clouds. Often cirrus clouds precede the arrival of a cold front.

RACHEL
And cold fronts are responsible for some our most violent weather.

KRIS
Galileo was the first to turn a telescope on the Beehive. He saw over 35 stars in the nearby star cluster.

PAUL
The Soviet Venera 8 landed on Venus 35 years ago.

RACHEL
On March 27, 1972, the Venera 8 spacecraft went into orbit around Venus after releasing a lander.

KRIS
The lander’s parachute opened at an altitude of 36 miles and the capsule began refrigerating itself in preparation for the harsh conditions it would experience upon landing.

PAUL
During the parachute descent, the lander detected a cloud bank at an altitude of 22 miles.

RACHEL
It also discovered that winds below an altitude of six miles were blowing at less than ½ a mile per hour.

KRIS
For 50 minutes the lander reported on the conditions at the surface. Those conditions were an atmospheric pressure 90 times greater than that of earth and air temperatures greater than 850 degrees

RACHEL
Ouch! That’s hotter than your oven.

KRIS
Even though Venus is cloud shrouded, some sunlight filters through the clouds. At its surface, it looks like a typical overcast day here on earth.

PAUL
Saturn is close to the moon for a second time this month.

RACHEL
Look for the ringed planet less than one degree south of the moon on the 28th.

KRIS
Closest approach between Saturn and the moon takes place at ten PM.

PAUL
Alpha Leonis is just over a degree from the moon’s right on the evening of the 29th.

RACHEL
Don’t know who alpha Leonis is? Why that’s the star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion.

KRIS
This is another astronomical sight for your binoculars.

PAUL
April first is the 300th anniversary of the launch of the first space mission to land on the sun

RACHEL
Their goal was the return to Atlantis with samples of sunspots.

KRIS
Tragically the mission failed because they forgot to land after sunset and were instantly vaporized.

PAUL
The moon is full on April second. And that’s no foolin’

RACHEL
And no foolin’, the moon is at apogee on the third at eleven AM.

KRIS
Since the moon is full close to apogee this month, the full moon of April is the smallest full moon this year. And that’s no foolin’ either.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of March. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond. For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico.

ALL
No foolin'