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
We begin the month with a celestial beacon.

RACHEL
The beacon consists of Mars, Saturn, and Regulus.

KRIS
So on the evening of the 1st, look for Regulus, the alpha star of Leo the Lion low in the west skies.

RACHEL
Mars is the light orange star ¾ degree above Regulus and Saturn is the pale yellow star 4-1/2 degrees to upper left.

PAUL
What do all those angles mean?

KRIS
Well, your binoculars display a scene around 7 degrees wide.

RACHEL
Therefore this celestial beacon will span only ¾ of the way across your binoculars’ field of view. So don’t miss it.

PAUL
The moon is at perigee, or its closest distance from earth, on the 1st.

KRIS
This month’s lunar perigee is 223,400 miles away.

RACHEL
Or just under 9 trips around the world.

KRIS
That’s a lot of frequent flyer miles.

PAUL
Ten years ago on the 3rd, Japan launched its first interplanetary space probe.

RACHEL
Named Nozomi, or Japanese for Hope, its target was the planet Mars.

KRIS
The flight started out well as the Nozomi entered Earth orbit and made two lunar flybys.

PAUL
Why two flybys of the moon rather than going straight to Mars?

RACHEL
That’s because the moon’s gravity reduced the amount of fuel that the spacecraft required to escape earth’s gravity.

KRIS
Unfortunately, a faulty fuel valve prevented Nozomi from getting sufficient speed after its two lunar flybys.

RACHEL
And as a result, Nozomi needed an additional two years to reach Mars.

PAUL
At least Nozomi made it to Mars

KRIS
Yes, but unfortunately, during its longer trip, radiation from a solar flare damaged the spacecraft’s flight computer.

RACHEL
Unable to enter into Martian orbit, Nozomi passed Mars at a distance of 620 miles and is now in a two year orbit around the sun.

KRIS
It’s tough to fly to the planets, but Nozomi made a very good attempt.

PAUL
On the 4th, we’re at our greatest distance from the sun.

RACHEL
Earth’s aphelion this year occurs at a distance of 94 million, 512 thousand, 947 miles away from the sun.

KRIS
That’s equal to 423 trips to the moon.

RACHEL
Since earth is at its greatest distance from the sun on a hot July day, our distance apparently has nothing to do with our seasons.

KRIS
That’s correct. It’s the tilt of Earth’s North Pole towards the sun that makes our summer so hot.

PAUL
The moon joins Regulus, Mars, and Saturn on the evening of the 6th.

RACHEL
Look for this compact group at 10:30 PM, just as its getting dark.

KRIS
Regulus, Mars, and Saturn will form a vertical line of stars that are close enough together to be seen in your binoculars.

RACHEL
The moon however, will be too far to their left to fit in your binoculars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of July. Listen next week as we celebrate the anniversary of two Martian space missions. There are also alignments between stars and planets for you to see.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.