Transcript: May Week 1

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the 2nd at four AM.

RACHEL
The full moon is spectacularly bright when viewed from a dark location.

KRIS
Moonlight is really sunlight. It’s just reflected off its surface before we see it.

RACHEL
Did you know the moon only reflects 12% of the sunlight shining on it?

KRIS
That means the moon is about as dark as asphalt.

RACHEL
So the moon only looks bright because the night sky is comparatively dark.

PAUL
That wouldn’t be the case if Saturn’s moon Enceladus orbited the earth instead of our moon.

KRIS
That’s because Enceladus is covered in nearly pure water ice.

RACHEL
That gives this Saturnian satellite a reflectivity of 99%.

KRIS
A reflectivity that high makes Enceladus nearly as bright as the sun.

RACHEL
Astronomers have a term for the reflectivity of astronomical bodies. They call it albedo.

KRIS
Albedo is written as a decimal and not a percentage. So Enceladus has an albedo of point ninety nine.

RACHEL
And earth has an average albedo of point three seven.

PAUL
Speaking of the moon, it’s close to the star Antares on the morning of the 4th.

KRIS
Antares is a red giant star and the lucida of Scorpius

RACHEL
You’ll find Antares eight lunar diameters to the moon’s left.

KRIS
That’s close enough together that both the moon and Antares can be seen at the same time in your binoculars.

PAUL
May fourth is Space Day.

RACHEL
The theme of Space Day this year is, fifty years in space.

KRIS
It’s been fifty years since Sputnik 1, the first satellite, was launched into earth orbit.

RACHEL
You can find more information on Space Day at its website, www.spaceday.com

PAUL
Seven degrees above the moon on the morning of the fifth you’ll find a very bright star.

KRIS
That star is not a real star; it’s the gas giant, Jupiter.

RACHEL
You can’t miss this planet; it’s the brightest stellar object in the morning sky.

KRIS
The moon and Jupiter rise together around midnight. So you’ll want to wait until at least one AM to look for them.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of May. Join us next week when Idaho Skies will tell you how to find a nice star cluster in your binoculars and where you can attend a star party in the very dark skies.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: April Week 4

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
Last week the moon was our guide to locating the Beehive star cluster.

RACHEL
The cluster is 600 light years away and contains around 200 stars.

KRIS
It’s relatively young. Astronomers believe it formed only 400 million years ago.

RACHEL
That’s very young in star years.

KRIS
When the sun was only 400 million years old, the solar system was still swarming with planetismals.

RACHEL
So the earth was being bombarded by large meteor collisions too frequently for life to survive on the surface.

KRIS
It would take another 300 million years for the rest of the planetismals to be swept up by the planets or ejected from the solar system.

RACHEL
At that point the solar system was fully formed and a safe place for life to evolve.

PAUL
Now that it’s safe, let’s see where the moon will lead us this week.

KRIS
This week the moon will guide us to a planet and the little king.

RACHEL
On the night of the 24th, yellow Saturn is close to the moon’s left.

PAUL
Oh, I love Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft is returning such beautiful images of the planet’s rings.

KRIS
Well you can see them for yourself.

RACHEL
A small telescope is all you need to see Saturn’s rings. You can also see its largest moon, Titan.

PAUL
Titan will appear as a star close to Saturn.

KRIS
When you see Titan, you’re looking at a satellite larger than our moon. And a moon with an atmosphere denser than the earth’s.

PAUL
So the moon will be our guide to Saturn. On the night of the 25th the moon is our guide to star.

RACHEL
On the night of the 25th the moon less then 2 degrees from Regulus,

KRIS
Regulus is the lucida of the constellation Leo the Lion. Regulus means little king, a name befitting the brightest star in Leo.

RACHEL
Regulus is 77 light years away. So the light you see tonight left Regulus in 1930.

KRIS
If you know someone who is 77 years old this week, then show them Regulus. It’s their birthday star this year.

PAUL
The moon is at apogee for a second time this month on the 30th at 4 AM.

RACHEL
The moon’s distance is 252 thousand 400 miles away tonight.

KRIS
That puts the moon only 75 miles further away from earth tonight than it was on its last apogee on the third.

RACHEL
The shape of the moon’s orbit wobbles a bit from month to month. But over the years the moon is receding from earth at a speed of one and a half inches per year.

PAUL
Why that’s slower than the grass grows.

KRIS
But knowing this allows astronomers to more accurately calculate when eclipses happened in historical times.

RACHEL
And with that bit of information we know the dates of some historical events more precisely.

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico.

Transcript: April Week 3

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
April 17th is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Surveyor 3.

KRIS
Surveyor 3 made the second soft landing of an unmanned American spacecraft on the moon.

RACHEL
The Surveyors were originally designed to do a thorough exploration of the moon.

KRIS
But that changed after President Kennedy committed the United States to land a man on the moon.

RACHEL
Surveyor was redesigned to test soft landing techniques in preparation for the more important manned moon landing.

KRIS
But JPL did manage to keep a few experiments onboard Surveyor to test the composition of the lunar surface.

PAUL
Three days after launch, Surveyor 3 was 48 miles above the lunar surface and descending fast.

RACHEL
A signal from its onboard radar triggered its retro rocket. The thrust of the retro rocket slowed Surveyor 3 in preparation for landing.

KRIS
After the burn, the single retro rocket was jettisoned and Surveyor 3 continued landing on a set of smaller vernier rockets.

RACHEL
But the lunar surface confused the radar so Surveyor 3 didn’t shut off its verniers upon landing.

PAUL
So it took a signal from earth to finally shut them down.

KRIS
Surveyor 3 bounced three times across the lunar surface before its verniers shut down.

RACHEL
Over two weeks, Surveyor 3 returned over 6,000 pictures and tested the strength of the lunar surface.

KRIS
In 1969 Surveyor 3 received a visitor when the astronauts of Apollo 12 landed 600 feet away from it.

RACHEL
Apollo 12 returned with several pieces of Surveyor 3. One of which is its camera and you can see it on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

PAUL
We have an astronomical treat on the evening of the 19th.

KRIS
That’s right. The moon is between Venus and the Pleiades.

RACHEL
So look to the low west after it gets dark for brilliant Venus.

KRIS
Use your binoculars you’ll find the moon and then the Pleiades to its lower right.

PAUL
What’s that faint light on the moon’s dark side that I see?

RACHEL
Why that’s earthshine.

PAUL
Earthshine?

KRIS
Yes. Earthshine is sunlight reflecting off the earth and illuminating the moon’s dark side.

RACHEL
In binoculars you’ll see faint markings on the moon’s dark side because of reflected sunlight from the earth.

KRIS
A thin crescent moon with noticeable earthshine is traditionally called the old moon in the arms of the young moon.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 23rd at 11:36 PM.

RACHEL
And over three days, the moon makes a handy reference point for locating a star cluster, a planet, and a bright star.

KRIS
To begin with, the Beehive star cluster is located 4 degrees from the moon’s left on the night of the 23rd.

RACHEL
So put the moon to the right side of your binoculars field of view and the Beehive will be the scattering of stars near the center of the field of view.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of April. Next week the moon is our guide to finding Saturn and the little king.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: April Week 2

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
The moon reaches last quarter phase at eleven AM on the tenth.

RACHEL
So unless you go outside after midnight, or look before heading to work, you won’t see the moon for this week.

PAUL
This week is Astronomy Week.

KRIS
Astronomy Week is a time that amateur astronomers provide fun learning opportunities for the public.

RACHEL
So if you have a telescope or pair of binoculars, invite your neighbors to look through them.

KRIS
You’ll find more information at the Astronomy Week website. The site is most easily found by searching Google for astronomy week.

PAUL
Look for the Evening Star on the night of the 11th.

RACHEL
When it gets dark you’ll find the Seven Sisters close to the upper right of the Evening Star.

PAUL
The Evening Star is the name given to Venus when it appears in the west after sunset. And the Seven Sisters is a popular name for the Pleiades star cluster.

KRIS
Both objects are separated by only three degrees.

RACHEL
Since most binoculars have a field of view equal to seven degrees, Venus and the Pleiades will span less than half way across your binoculars

PAUL
Astronomy Day is Saturday, April 16th.

KRIS
The Boise Astronomical Society is hosting a public at the Discovery Center of Idaho. Learn about astronomy and view the sun through a telescope between ten AM and five PM.

RACHEL
Check out the Idaho Skies calendar for information on astronomical activities across Idaho.

KRIS
The calendar is online at Idaho skies dot org.

PAUL
The moon reaches perigee at eleven PM on the 16th.

RACHEL
Perigee is moon’s closest distance from earth. And this month perigee is at a distance of 221 thousand, 900 miles.

KRIS
Since the moon is both new and at perigee, beaches will experience larger than average tidal changes.

PAUL
The 35th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 16 is on the 16th.

RACHEL
Apollo 16 was one of three Apollo moon landings of the J mission configuration.

KRIS
The first Apollo moon landings were G and H missions. Their smaller and lighter lunar modules could only operate for one or two days on the moon.

RACHEL
The J mission lunar landers were heavier because they carried more experiments, a moon buggy, and supplies for three days on the moon.

KRIS
That’s not the only difference. The command module that remained in lunar orbit carried the SIM bay with cameras to map the moon from lunar orbit.

PAUL
Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke landed Orion, their lunar module, in the Descartes Highlands.

RACHEL
The four previous Apollo missions landed in dark lunar maria. So Apollo 16 was the first mission to explore the brighter and older highland regions.

KRIS
After three days on the lunar surface, Apollo 16 returned to earth with over 200 pounds of moon rocks and dust.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of April. Listen next week for information on Surveyor 3 and earthshine.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: April Week 1

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the second at eleven AM.

KRIS
Since the moon is at apogee tomorrow, this month’s full moon is the smallest full moon of 2007.

RACHEL
Hey! Here’s a simple astronomy experiment that you can perform.

KRIS
Try taking a photograph of the full moon tonight. Then compare that photograph to a photograph of the full moon taken on the night of the year’s largest full moon.

PAUL
The largest full moon of 2007 is the perigean full moon of November 24th.

RACHEL
To do this experiment properly, you’ll need to use the same camera and camera lens for both photographs.

KRIS
You’ll also need to use a camera tripod and cable release.

RACHEL
The tripod and cable release will ensure the camera remains still during the exposure.

PAUL
Bracket your exposures. That means you need to take several pictures using different exposure times. That way you’re sure to get a well exposed picture.

KRIS
When you compare the size of the moons in both photographs, you’ll see a noticeable difference in their sizes.

RACHEL
By the way, the full moon in April is often called the Egg Moon.

PAUL
The moon reaches the apogee of its orbit on the third at three AM.

KRIS
The moon’s apogee, or greatest distance from earth, this month is 252 thousand, 400 miles.

RACHEL
Did you know that a stack of dollar bills tall enough to reach the moon would be worth four trillion dollars?

KRIS
That’s one third of our gross domestic product or half our national debt.

PAUL
Speaking of the moon, look for it on the morning of the third as you head to work.

RACHEL
You’ll see that the star Spica, the brightest star of Virgo, is just three degrees to the moon’s upper left.

KRIS
For reference, an angle of three degrees is an angle six times greater than the moon’s diameter.

PAUL
If you can get up early on Saturday morning, April seventh, you’ll find the moon near another star, Antares.

RACHEL
Antares is the lucida of the constellation Scorpius. Did you know that Antares means rival of Mars?

KRIS
The Greek name for their god of war is Ares. And Antares comes from anti-Ares, or rival of Mars.

RACHEL
The star Antares is the rival of Mars because like Mars, it’s a bright orange star.

KRIS
You’ll want to go out around 4:30 AM to see the moon near the rival of Mars, Antares.

PAUL
The moon is a guide again on the eighth. As the moon rises, the brilliant planet Jupiter is located above it.

RACHEL
So if you’re not certain where Jupiter is located, here’s your chance to find it.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of April. Next week we’ll tell you about Astronomy Day, a pairing between the Evening Star and the Seven Sisters, and Apollo 16.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

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'