Transcript: July Week 1

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars ten years ago

RACHEL
That was on the fourth of July 1997.

KRIS
Pathfinder was the first landing on Mars since 1976 when Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on Mars.

RACHEL
Mars Pathfinder was primarily a demonstration mission. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory wanted to show that they could quickly design and land a small spacecraft on Mars.

KRIS
To simplify the Pathfinder’s landing, it was wrapped in air bags.

PAUL
Air bags? Like in my car?

RACHEL
Yes, just like those in your car. Just before impact with the Martian surface the air bags inflated and the cocooned lander bounced to a stop at rocky Ares Vallis.

KRIS
After successfully landing, Mars Pathfinder was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station in honor of Dr. Sagan who had passed away six months earlier.

RACHEL
While you may not remember the Mars Pathfinder, you no doubt remember the little rover that it carried to Mars, Sojourner.

PAUL
Sojourner was the size of a microwave oven.

KRIS
It weighed 23 pounds and was battery operated.

RACHEL
The solar array on top of the rover kept the battery from discharging too rapidly, but it wasn’t enough to fully recharge its battery.

KRIS
JPL wanted to get a month out of the lander and a week out of the rover. But both functioned for more than 90 days.

RACHEL
In those three months the Pathfinder and Sojourner duo returned over 16 thousand images.

KRIS
Along with the images, Sojourner measured the elements in fifteen Martian rocks.

PAUL
Earth reaches the aphelion of its orbit on the sixth at six PM.

RACHEL
Being at aphelion means that the earth’s at its farthest distance from the sun.

PAUL
Isn’t it funny how earth’s greatest distance from the sun corresponds to our hottest days?

KRIS
Actually that’s not surprising at all. The seasons are controlled by the planet’s tilt towards or away from the sun and not by its distance from the sun.

RACHEL
When the northern hemisphere points towards the sun we have summer and when our hemisphere points away from the sun, we experience winter.

KRIS
By the way, you might like to know. Eearth’s distance from the sun today is 94 million 500 thousand miles.

PAUL
The moon is last quarter on the 7th at 10:54 AM.

RACHEL
So over the next two weeks the skies will remain dark later into the night.

KRIS
That makes it easier for astronomers to observe faint fuzzy astronomical objects like galaxies.

RACHEL
But not just astronomers benefit. Your binoculars will show you more stars now that the moon’s light is not interfering.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of July. Join us next week when we’ll locate three planets and talk about Telstar 1.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: June Week 4

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
On the night of the 27th and morning of the 28th you’ll find the moon only one degree south of Antares.

RACHEL
Antares is the lucida or brightest star of Scorpius. It’s a red giant star that is close to the end of its life.

KRIS
In human years, it’s still a long time until Antares blows, but in star years, it’s just around the corner.

RACHEL
What’s that bright object seven degrees above the moon?

PAUL
It’s a bird

KRIS
It’s a plane

RACHEL
No, it’s the planet Jupiter.

KRIS
Jupiter is the perfect object for your telescope. Even if all you have is a small telescope.

RACHEL
That’s because it’s large and bright.

PAUL
Look closely at the planet through your telescope and you’ll notice that it’s slightly oval shaped

KRIS
The planet is slightly squashed because it spins on its axis in just ten hours.

RACHEL
You’ll also see that there’s anywhere from one to four stars in a row with the planet.

KRIS
But those aren’t stars, they’re satellites.

RACHEL
They were discovered by Galileo in December 1609 and January 1610.

KRIS
Today we call them the Galilean satellites in honor of Galileo’s discovery.

PAUL
His discovery of these satellites was a nail in the coffin of the geocentric universe.

RACHEL
Most astronomers in Galileo’s day believed the earth was the center of the universe.

KRIS
And that everything else orbited around the earth.

RACHEL
One proof of this was that nothing could orbit the other planets. If they did, they’d be left behind as the planet orbited the earth.

KRIS
Astronomers where saying that there couldn’t be two centers of rotation in the universe.

RACHEL
But Galileo’s discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter proved that was not the case.

KRIS
And if there could be two centers of rotation, then the moon could remain in orbit around the earth as the earth orbited around the sun.

PAUL
From closest to Jupiter to the furthest out, the satellites are named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

RACHEL
The satellites are named after humans who had encounters with the king of the Greek God, Zeus.

KRIS
To the Romans, he was known by the name, Jupiter.

RACHEL
The Galilean satellites are around the size of our moon. Europa and Io are a bit smaller and Ganymede and Callisto are larger.

KRIS
In fact Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system.

RACHEL
It’s 50 percent larger than the moon.

KRIS
So spend some time tonight watching the Galilean satellites whirl around the king of the planets.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of June. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Paul Malenari and Gwen Sanchirico.

RACHEL
We wish Gwen good luck on her move to the distant state of New York.

PAUL
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio.

Transcript: June Week 4

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
On the night of the 27th and morning of the 28th you’ll find the moon only one degree south of Antares.

RACHEL
Antares is the lucida or brightest star of Scorpius. It’s a red giant star that is close to the end of its life.

KRIS
In human years, it’s still a long time until Antares blows, but in star years, it’s just around the corner.

RACHEL
What’s that bright object seven degrees above the moon?

PAUL
It’s a bird

KRIS
It’s a plane

RACHEL
No, it’s the planet Jupiter.

KRIS
Jupiter is the perfect object for your telescope. Even if all you have is a small telescope.

RACHEL
That’s because it’s large and bright.

PAUL
Look closely at the planet through your telescope and you’ll notice that it’s slightly oval shaped

KRIS
The planet is slightly squashed because it spins on its axis in just ten hours.

RACHEL
You’ll also see that there’s anywhere from one to four stars in a row with the planet.

KRIS
But those aren’t stars, they’re satellites.

RACHEL
They were discovered by Galileo in December 1609 and January 1610.

KRIS
Today we call them the Galilean satellites in honor of Galileo’s discovery.

PAUL
His discovery of these satellites was a nail in the coffin of the geocentric universe.

RACHEL
Most astronomers in Galileo’s day believed the earth was the center of the universe.

KRIS
And that everything else orbited around the earth.

RACHEL
One proof of this was that nothing could orbit the other planets. If they did, they’d be left behind as the planet orbited the earth.

KRIS
Astronomers where saying that there couldn’t be two centers of rotation in the universe.

RACHEL
But Galileo’s discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter proved that was not the case.

KRIS
And if there could be two centers of rotation, then the moon could remain in orbit around the earth as the earth orbited around the sun.

PAUL
From closest to Jupiter to the furthest out, the satellites are named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

RACHEL
The satellites are named after humans who had encounters with the king of the Greek God, Zeus.

KRIS
To the Romans, he was known by the name, Jupiter.

RACHEL
The Galilean satellites are around the size of our moon. Europa and Io are a bit smaller and Ganymede and Callisto are larger.

KRIS
In fact Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system.

RACHEL
It’s 50 percent larger than the moon.

KRIS
So spend some time tonight watching the Galilean satellites whirl around the king of the planets.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of June. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Paul Malenari and Gwen Sanchirico.

RACHEL
We wish Gwen good luck on her move to the distant state of New York.

PAUL
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio.

Transcript: June Week 2

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week Jupiter was at opposition.

RACHEL
Opposition means the planet is opposite the sun in the sky.

KRIS
While astrologers make a big deal of a planet’s location in the sky, astronomers know better.

RACHEL
At opposition a superior planet is at its closest distance from earth.

PAUL
Superior planet? What’s a superior planet?

KRIS
That’s one that orbits the sun at a greater distance then the earth.

RACHEL
A superior planet is best seen through a telescope when it’s at opposition.

KRIS
Because it’s opposite the sun in the sky, a planet at opposition rises around sunset and sets around sunrise.

RACHEL
That also means its reaches its greatest angle above the horizon around midnight

KRIS
Even though it’s at opposition, Jupiter is not well placed for telescopic viewing this summer.

PAUL
That’s because Jupiter is located near Scorpius.

RACHEL
Scorpius is a constellation that never reaches very high above the horizon in Idaho.

KRIS
So Jupiter will not remain above the horizon for very many hours. And when the planet is visible it’s shining through a lot of atmosphere and is just above the warm ground.

RACHEL
That combines to give the planet a blurry appearance.

PAUL
The moon is at perigee or its closest point to earth on the 12th.

KRIS
The opposite of perigee is apogee and as you can guess, it’s the furthest point in the moon’s orbit.

RACHEL
The distance of the lunar perigee this month is 226 thousand miles.

KRIS
Let’s convert that distance into a new unit.

RACHEL
How about ferrets?

KRIS
Sure. My ferret Ricki is 19 inches long, from nose to tail.

PAUL
So how many Ricki’s would we have to stack tip to tail to reach the moon.

SOUND OF CALCULATOR

RACHEL
It would take 754 million Ricki’s to reach the moon

KRIS
That’s one Ricki for every ten people on earth.

RACHEL
That’s a lot of Rickis!

PAUL
Not long after it gets dark on the 12th you’ll be able to see the Beehive star cluster one degree below Venus.

KRIS
But it gets better on the 17th.

RACHEL
That’s when the young crescent moon joins them.

KRIS
In fact all three will be so close together that they will be visible in your binoculars at the same time.

RACHEL
Look in the west for the Evening Star. You can’t miss it; it’s the brightest object you’ll see.

KRIS
Put Venus in the upper left of your binoculars and the moon will appear in the lower right.

RACHEL
Located between them is a scattering of stars. That’s the Beehive star cluster.

PAUL
The moon is near Saturn on the night of the 18th.

KRIS
So if you don’t know where Saturn is in the sky, look for the ringed world four lunar diameters to the moon’s left.

RACHEL
And don’t forget Venus. It’s the really bright star to the moon’s left.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of June. Next week Dawn takes off for the asteroid belt and summer begins.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL.. and Paul.