Idaho Skies

Transcript: July Week 1

2008-06-21T11:29:00.001-06:00

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.

Transcript: June Week 2

2008-05-29T06:38:00.001-06:00

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
The moon reaches the first quarter phase on the 10th.

RACHEL
Even in binoculars, the half moon provides great views of mountains and craters.

KRIS
Your best views of these terrain features are along the lunar terminator or the boundary between day and night.

RACHEL
Mountains 12,000 feet tall are visible in the lunar north around the Sea of Serenity

KRIS
That’s the big lunar maria at the top of the moon.

RACHEL
You’ll see the greatest number of craters in the lunar south.

KRIS
That’s because the lunar highlands are an old lunar surface packed shoulder to shoulder with craters.

PAUL
Did you remember that last week was the fifth anniversary of the launch of Mars Express?

RACHEL
Well, June 10th is the 5th anniversary of the launch of America’s Mars Exploration Rover-A

KRIS
M-E-R, A is more commonly known by the name Spirit.

RACHEL
Since landing on Mars on January 4th, 2004, Spirit has traveled over seven miles as it has explored Bonneville Crater and the Columbia Hills.

KRIS
One of the specifications for Spirit called for it to operate for a minimum of 90 days.

RACHEL
But so far, Spirit has functioned for over 1,400 days.

KRIS
Its extended lifetime has given Spirit the chance to make discoveries impossible for a stationary lander.

RACHEL
For example, results from Spirit tell us that some of the rocks near its landing site were altered by water.

KRIS
However, the water probably came from a geothermal source rather than pools of liquid water.

RACHEL
Since Spirit has one bad wheel, it drives best when driving backwards and dragging its stuck wheel.

PAUL
Although, there has been a benefit as its bad wheel has churned up a lot of Martian soil.

KRIS
This led to last year’s discovery of a patch of Martian soil white with salt.

RACHEL
That’s more evidence of water in the Martian past.

KRIS
The salt was most likely deposited in a hot spring, like those at Yellowstone National Park.

RACHEL
And that’s a location where life is plentiful on Earth.

PAUL
Another of Spirit’s discoveries is dust devils.

KRIS
Martian dust devils are important to the rover because over time, dust settles on Spirit’s solar array.

RACHEL
As dust accumulates, it blocks sunlight and reduces the ability of the array to produce power that the rover needs to function.

KRIS
Fortunately, for Spirit, dust devils have winds strong enough to clear most dust off the array, raising their energy output.

RACHEL
Even though Spirit shows other signs of aging, like a worn out rock grinder and failed spectrometers, JPL continues to nurse the rover to get the most science possible out of it.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of June. Next week is the first day of summer. Hear about that and how astronomers classify the elliptical shape of an orbit.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: June Week 1

2008-05-24T14:26:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Five years ago on the 2nd, Mars Express left earth

KRIS
It was launched on a Russian rocket booster and was Europe’s first interplanetary space mission.

RACHEL
The spacecraft was made quickly and inexpensively because it’s constructed from satellite components traditionally used on many earth orbiting spacecraft.

KRIS
Mars Express has been returning data since it entered Martian orbit on Christmas day, 2003.

PAUL
What kind of data?

RACHEL
For one, it’s returning high resolution images of the Martian terrain

KRIS
These images include maps showing the location of various minerals on the Martian surface.

RACHEL
The location of minerals like hematite indicate places where pools of water once stood on Mars

KRIS
Mars Express is also scanning the planet’s subsurface with MARSIS.

PAUL
MARSIS?

RACHEL
Yes, MARSIS. MARSIS consists of two 44 foot long radio antennas protruding from the spacecraft.

KRIS
The antennas transmit radio signals that bounce off the Martian surface.

RACHEL
However, because the radio waves penetrate the ground, MARSIS can detect ice and meteor craters hidden beneath the Martian surface.

PAUL
Didn’t Mars Express discover methane gas seeping out of the Martian surface?

KRIS
Yes, one of its spectrometers did in March 2004.

RACHEL
Methane is chemically unstable in the Martian atmosphere, so it must be continuously generated.

KRIS
The source of the Martian methane could be active volcanism or buried microorganism.

RACHEL
And both sources would be a surprise as neither is expected to be occurring on Mars today.

PAUL
Speaking of Mars, the moon will help you find it on the 7th.

KRIS
That’s the night when the moon passes within 5 lunar diameters of Mars.

RACHEL
Mars appears as the orange colored star to the moon’s upper right.

KRIS
While the moon makes a great binocular object, Mars will just appear as a bright orange star near the moon.

PAUL
And here’s help finding Saturn.

RACHEL
The ringed-world forms a small celestial triangle with the moon and the star Regulus on the 8th.

KRIS
The grouping is small enough that all three will fit within your binoculars.

RACHEL
In your binoculars, Saturn is the cream colored star at the top, the moon is the crescent below Saturn, and Regulus is the yellow star on the bottom right.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of June. Listen next week when we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the launch of another spacecraft aimed at Mars, the Spirit rover.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: May Week 4

2008-05-18T16:39:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Mars will receive a new robotic visitor on the 26th.

KRIS
The visitor is the American Phoenix Mars Lander.

RACHEL
Unlike the rovers now active on Mars, Phoenix doesn’t travel across the Martian surface.

KRIS
And also unlike the rovers, Phoenix is landing in the Martian arctic region.

PAUL
This will be the first time a spacecraft has visited this part of Mars.

RACHEL
Phoenix is going to Mars to study the history of water on the planet.

PAUL
Its studies of the Martian arctic will address issues like…

KRIS
Can the Martian arctic support microbial life?

RACHEL
What is the history of water in the Martian arctic?

KRIS
And how do the polar caps influence the Martian climate?

RACHEL
Phoenix carries a robotic arm. With it, Phoenix will dig trenches two feet deep into the Martian permafrost.

PAUL
Perhaps below its icy surface, there are ecological niches that Martian bacteria can take advantage of.

KRIS
Phoenix is equipped with science instruments to detect their presence, should they exist.

RACHEL
You can read more about Phoenix at its web site, phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

PAUL
The moon reaches the last quarter phase on the 27th.

KRIS
If you stay out late Tuesday night, you can observe this attractive moon phase through your binoculars.

RACHEL
The moon’s largest ocean is visible on the left side of the moon.

PAUL
In Latin it’s called Oceanus Procellarum.

KRIS
But you can call it by its English name, the Ocean of Storms.

RACHEL
The Ocean of Storms stretches over 1,500 miles across, which is half way across the United States.

KRIS
In your binoculars, you’ll notice that the Ocean of Storms is not as well defined as some of the other lunar maria.

RACHEL
This lunar ocean was visited by the Apollo 12 astronauts in November 1969.

KRIS
It was also visited by four unmanned spacecraft, two American and two Russian.

RACHEL
One of those American spacecraft was Surveyor 3.

KRIS
One of the goals of the Apollo 12 astronauts was to land near Surveyor 3 and retrieve pieces of it.

RACHEL
Surveyor 3 had landed 2 and ½ years earlier. NASA was very interested to see what that long exposure to the sun and moon and done to the spacecraft.

KRIS
The astronauts had no trouble locating the old Surveyor. That’s because their lunar module, Intrepid, landed only 600 feet away.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of May. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: May Week 3

2008-05-10T13:57:00.002-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the 19th.

RACHEL
The full moon in May is often called the Flower Moon.

KRIS
This month’s full moon occurs less than a day before the moon reaches apogee, or its greatest distance from earth.

RACHEL
As a consequence, this month’s full moon is the smallest full moon of the year.

KRIS
The moon’s greatest distance from earth this month is 252,500 miles.

PAUL
On the 20th, the red giant lucida of Scorpius, Antares, is to the upper right of the moon.

RACHEL
How different these two astronomical objects are.

KRIS
That’s right. The moon is a cold dead world less than 250,000 miles away and just over 2,000 miles across.

RACHEL
Antares is a warm red giant star 1,400 times larger than the sun and 600 light-years away.

KRIS
Perhaps within a million years the massive Antares will die in a spectacular supernova explosion and leave the scorpion heartless.

PAUL
The 20th also marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of Pioneer Venus 1.

RACHEL
In 1978 this spacecraft was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

KRIS
Previous Venusian spacecraft were flybys, direct descent landers, or atmospheric probes.

RACHEL
Pioneer Venus 1 was one of two Venusian spacecraft the United States launched that year

KRIS
The spacecraft spent 12 years in Venusian orbit where it recorded data on the atmosphere and ionosphere of Venus.

RACHEL
It used it dish antenna as a simple radar system to make topographical maps of the cloudy planet’s surface.

KRIS
In addition, the spacecraft carried a gamma ray detector. Astronomers hoped the detector would indicate whether the mysterious gamma ray bursts that satellites had discovered a decade earlier originated close to the solar system or in distant space.

RACHEL
At the end of its mission, Pioneer Venus 1 was allowed to enter the scorching Venusian atmosphere and burn up.

PAUL
Here’s a neat treat, on the 22nd Mars passes through the fringes of the Beehive star cluster.

KRIS
If you’re familiar with the Beehive, then on the 22nd you’ll see what looks like a new bright orange member to the cluster.

RACHEL
This is the kind of astronomical event you should watch for a few days before and after as Mars travels through the cluster.

KRIS
Be sure to use your binoculars for the best view and look for them low in the west.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of May. Next week’s show is about the Phoenix lander and the Ocean of Storms.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: May Week 2

2008-05-06T19:46:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
On the 12th, the moon, Regulus, and Mars put on a show.

KRIS
They’ll form a triangle small enough to fit within your binoculars.

RACHEL
In binoculars you’ll see the waxing gibbous moon on the left.

KRIS
Mars and Regulus will appear star-like and form the triangle’s two other corners on the right.

RACHEL
Regulus will be the slightly brighter than Mars and white in color. Compare that to the orange color of Mars

PAUL
May 14th is the 35th anniversary of the launch of Skylab.

KRIS
Skylab was America’s first space station.

RACHEL
As NASA anticipated the end of the Apollo moon missions, they started developing new uses for their Apollo hardware.

KRIS
Two of the possible uses were a space telescope mounted to the Lunar Module and a space station based on the third stage of the Apollo moon rocket.

RACHEL
Because of budget constraints, NASA combined the telescope and space station into a single program called Skylab.

PAUL
Skylab’s goal was to prove humans could function in space while performing useful tasks, like astronomical observations.

KRIS
Using the last Saturn 5 booster, Skylab rocketed into space as the booster’s third stage.

RACHEL
Skylab was launched as a complete space station; so the astronauts wouldn’t have to perform any construction to get it up and running.

KRIS
NASA referred to this space station design as a dry lab.

RACHEL
In 1973, the first two stages of the last Saturn 5 successfully placed Skylab into a 270 mile high orbit.

KRIS
However, during its ascent into space, the station’s micrometeorite shield deployed away from the space station.

PAUL
This was not designed to happen until Skylab entered earth orbit.

RACHEL
As a result of its early deployment, aerodynamic forces ripped the micrometeoroid shield off Skylab.

KRIS
So once in orbit, a portion of Skylab was bare, unprotected, and exposed to the sun and space.

PAUL
Skylab carried two large solar arrays for power.

RACHEL
However, when the micrometeoroid shield was ripped off, one of Skylab’s two solar arrays partially deployed also.

KRIS
So when Skylab’s thruster rockets fired to place Skylab into the proper orbit, their exhaust hit the deployed array and ripped it off too.

RACHEL
The remaining solar array was trapped beneath debris from the accident and was unable to deploy.

KRIS
Fortunately, Skylab’s telescope was undamaged and its solar array deployed properly.

PAUL
In the end, Skylab was left in a safe orbit but with rising temperatures and very little power.

RACHEL
The first manned visit to Skylab was scheduled to launch a day after Skylab, but because of the damage to the space station, their launch was rescheduled for ten days later.

KRIS
During that time, NASA developed a plan for the Apollo astronauts to repair Skylab.

RACHEL
The repairs were successful and allowed all three planned astronaut crews to visit the space station.

KRIS
The longest mission was flown by the third crew in 1974 and they resided in the space station for 84 days.

RACHEL
After the third crew left, NASA hoped Skylab could remain in orbit until the Space Shuttle could perform a recovery mission.

KRIS
However, increased solar activity expanded earth’s atmosphere into the orbit of Skylab. This thicker atmosphere created more drag on Skylab, causing it to return to earth sooner than expected.

PAUL
As a result, the 100 ton Skylab returned to earth on July 11th, 1979 before the first Space Shuttle could be launched

RACHEL
Portions of the massive and out of control space station landed in Australia and the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, no people or property were harmed.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of May. Next week the moon and Antares put on a show as does Mars and the Beehive star cluster.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.

Transcript: May Week 1

2008-04-30T10:55:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is new on the 5th.

RACHEL
The moon is new when it passes between the sun and the earth.

KRIS
At that point, the sun’s light shines on the side of the moon turned away from the earth.

PAUL
There is not such thing as the dark side of the moon. Every part of the moon sees daylight for two weeks each month.

RACHEL
However, there is a far side. That’s the side of the moon we can’t see from earth.

KRIS
We can’t see this hemisphere because the moon rotates as fast as it orbits the earth.

RACHEL
As a result, one side, the near side, always faces earth.

PAUL
This month’s new moon is unique for 2008.

KRIS
That’s because the moon also reaches perigee, or its closest distance from earth, on the same night.

RACHEL
At perigee the moon is 222,300 miles away.

KRIS
This month’s new moon combined with perigee produces larger than average tides.

PAUL
We have another astronomical event occurring on the 5th.

RACHEL
That’s right. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak.

KRIS
The meteors from this shower originated in the tail of comet Halley.

RACHEL
The Eta Aquarids will appear to originate low to the south east horizon.

KRIS
The point in the sky where meteors appear to originate is called the meteor shower’s radiant.

RACHEL
However, in the case of the Eta Aquarids, its radiant doesn’t rise until late at night.

KRIS
This means the shower doesn’t reach its best until after midnight.

RACHEL
However, on the plus side, the moon is new. So the shower ought to appear a bit richer with its fainter meteors.

PAUL
It will be easy to locate Mars on the evening of the 9th.

KRIS
That’s because it’s just 5 degrees to the upper left of the crescent moon.

RACHEL
Mars will appear orange and star-like. And both Mars and the moon will fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

PAUL
The moon is very close to a nice star cluster on the evening of the 10th.

KRIS
The star cluster is the Beehive star cluster and it is less than 2 degrees to moon’s left. That’s four times the moon’s diameter.

RACHEL
The Beehive is bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye in dark skies.

KRIS
It appears as a fuzzy spot to the eye, but as a scattering of stars with modest optical aid, like a pair of binoculars.

RACHEL
A telescope can show more stars in this cluster, but has too much magnification to see both the moon and cluster at the same time.

KRIS
So stick to using your binoculars and look for a small scattering of stars nearly twice as large as the moon.

RACHEL
The Beehive is 577 light years away. So the light of the Beehive you see tonight left in 1431, or more than 60 years before Columbus discovered the Americas.

KRIS
The cluster is 16 light years across. So imagine a beam of light taking 16 years to cross the cluster that you see in your binoculars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho skies for the first week of May. Join us next week to hear about America’s first space station, Skylab.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: April Week 5

2008-04-24T09:06:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Gene Shoemaker would have turned 80 years old last week.

KRIS
Before Shoemaker, most geologists believed that the structures we now know are meteor craters were volcanic in origin.

RACHEL
In some cases, geologists referred to them as crypto-volcanic because they couldn’t quite figure out how a volcano could create such a feature.

KRIS
The reason geologists were hesitant to accept meteor impacts as the source of craters is that the science of geology focused on forces that act gently and over long periods of time.

PAUL
In other words, meteor impacts were too catastrophic for a majority of geologists.

RACHEL
Gene’s PhD work convinced geologists that meteor impacts did happen in the past and that they leave evidence we can observe today.

KRIS
Gene then went on to do moon work for NASA, including preparing to be an Apollo astronaut.

RACHEL

Unfortunately, a medical condition kept him from being the first scientist to walk on the moon.

KRIS
One of the last events Gene is known for is his 1993 discovery of a comet ripped apart by Jupiter’s gravity.

PAUL
Gene made that discovery along with his wife Carolyn and friend David Levy

RACHEL
In 1994, the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 smashed into Jupiter with the energy of thousands to millions of megatons.

KRIS
The fragments came in a variety of sizes, up to 1-1/2 miles across and crashed into the Jovian atmosphere at a speed of 37 miles per second.

PAUL
Amateur astronomers could see the impact sites on Jupiter with their telescopes.

RACHEL
They appeared as brown spots in Jupiter’s atmosphere that were observable for months after the impacts.

KRIS
Gene passed away in 1996 in a car accident while looking for new meteor craters in Australia.

PAUL
May second is Space Day.

RACHEL
Organized by the aerospace company, Lockheed Martin, Space Day is an educational initiative.

KRIS
Lock Mart wants Space Day to educate the public on the achievements, opportunities, and benefits of space exploration.

RACHEL
Some of the benefits of space exploration include the weather satellite images you see on the nightly news and your GPS receiver.

KRIS
It also includes our increased knowledge of the earth’s formation and history.

RACHEL
You can read about Space Day at its website, www.spaceday.org.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of April. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. 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.

Transcript: April Week 4

2008-04-16T08:37:00.001-06:00

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
On the 23rd, the moon is at apogee or its greatest distance from the earth.

RACHEL
This month the moon’s apogee is at a distance of 252,240 miles.

KRIS
At apogee the moon spans an angle of 0.48 degrees, or 12% smaller than the moon was at perigee on the 7th.

RACHEL
That’s enough of a change to be noticeable in photographs.

KRIS
To photograph the moon only takes a camera tripod and telephoto lens.

PAUL
The next module for the International Space Station is scheduled to leave earth on the 24th.

RACHEL
NASA will launch Kibo onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124.

KRIS
This will be NASA’s 26th flight to the International Space Station.

RACHEL
There will only be six crew members aboard this Shuttle flight instead of the usual seven. And one will be a Japanese mission specialist.

PAUL
Kibo is 37 feet long and 14 feet in diameter and it was designed by the Japanese Space Exploration Agency.

KRIS
There are four sections to Kibo. The first two are its pressurized section where the astronauts work and a logistics section where their equipment is stored.

RACHEL
Outside Kibo are its last two sections. They are the rack where experiments are exposed to the space environment and a robotic arm for operating and moving experiments.

PAUL
The moon is at last quarter phase on the 28th.

KRIS
The last quarter moon is a nice moon phase to look at, if you don’t mind moon watching after midnight.

RACHEL
You’ll see the greatest number of craters in the lunar south. The rest of the moon contains more lunar maria, or frozen lava seas than the other side of the moon.

KRIS
The lunar maria have been cold for over three billion years. That makes most rocks on the moon far older than any rock on earth.

RACHEL
One reason moon rocks are far older than earth rocks is that there’s no water to cause erosion on the moon.

KRIS
The other factor is that the moon is too small for plate tectonics.

PAUL
You can also see Mars and the star Pollux close together on the night of the 28th.

RACHEL
Mars and Pollux will only be five degrees apart, or close enough to see at the same time in your binoculars.

KRIS
Over the next couple of weeks, Mars will slowly drift past Pollux. So you might want to observe them every few days to see the change.

RACHEL
Although Mars and Pollux have the same magnitude, you can tell Mars from Pollux because Mars has an orange cast to it.

PAUL
Eugene Shoemaker’s birthday is on April 28th.

KRIS
Gene almost single-handedly convinced the science world that craters arise from meteor impacts.

RACHEL
That’s right. Before 1960, most astronomers and geologists believed the craters on the moon were the result of volcanic action.

KRIS
Even the meteor craters on earth, like Barringer Crater in Arizona, were believed to be volcanic in origin.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of April. We’ll talk more next week about Gene Shoemaker and the crypto-volcanic structures he studied here and on the moon.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

RIS
..Kris..

PAUL.. and Paul.

Transcript: April Week 3

2008-04-12T11:18:00.001-06:00

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
The moon is full on the 20th.

KRIS
April full moons are often called the Grass or Egg Moon.

RACHEL
I hope you weren’t planning to observe faint astronomical objects tonight, because the moon’s light will wipe out many of them.

KRIS
Astronomers call the apparent brightness of an astronomical object its magnitude.

RACHEL
The Greeks designed our magnitude system when they rated the brightness of the stars on a scale of one to six.

KRIS
The brightest stars were given a magnitude of one while the faintest were given a magnitude of six.

PAUL
So the fainter an object, the higher its magnitude.

RACHEL
Astronomers have further refined the system and use electronic sensors to measure the magnitude of stars and planets.

KRIS
The brightest night time object in the sky, Venus, can reach a magnitude as high as -4.5.

RACHEL
The faintest stars that the average person can see in very dark skies are still around 6th magnitude. Compare that to the faintest star you can see in the Little Dipper which is 2-1/2 times brighter at 5th magnitude.

PAUL
The full moon has a magnitude of around -12.7.

KRIS
And the sun, a brilliant magnitude -26.

PAUL
The Lyrid meteor shower reaches it peak on the night of the 20th and morning of the 21st.

RACHEL
Meteors are bits of cosmic dust entering into earth’s atmosphere.

KRIS
Most originate in the dusty tails of comets. And when the earth passes through the orbit of the comet, we get showered with the comet’s dust.

RACHEL
Most meteors burn up 60 to 80 miles above the ground and only the largest meteors can make it to the surface before they vaporize.

KRIS
The meteors we’ll see in the Lyrids are too small to reach the ground. Meteors that reach the ground originate in asteroids and not comet tails.

RACHEL
Meteors in space, before they burn up in the atmosphere, are called meteoroids. Those that reach the ground without burning up are called meteorites.

PAUL
Some meteorites are so rare that they’re more valuable than gold.

KRIS
As a result, some meteorite dealers have become millionaires.

RACHEL
Meteors from the Lyrid meteor shower have been observed for over 2,000 years, making the Lyrids one of the oldest known showers.

KRIS
You should only expect to see around ten meteors per hour from this shower, so it’s not a particularly strong shower.

RACHEL
However, it’s the first good shower we’ve had since January and it takes places when the weather is finally getting nice.

KRIS
Unfortunately, this year the full moon’s light will make it difficult to see the faintest meteors of the shower.

RACHEL
Meteors from the Lyrids will appear to originate in the low northeast early in the night and from nearly overhead after midnight.

KRIS
If you can’t watch the Lyrids, you’ll want to know that our next meteor shower occurs on the night of May 5th.

RACHEL
And this year that shower, the Eta Aquarids, takes place in the dark skies of the new moon

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of April. Next week our topics include Kibo and Gene Shoemaker.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: April Week 2

2008-04-06T11:02:00.000-06:00

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
On the evening of the 8th, the moon is one lunar diameter above the Pleiades.

RACHEL
The moon is a thin crescent, so its light won’t wash out the entire cluster.

KRIS
In binoculars you’ll see how much smaller the moon is than the Pleiades.

PAUL
Look for the moon late on the night of the 11th as the waxing crescent moon just skims over the top of Mars.

RACHEL
They’ll be closest together around midnight or the morning of the 12th.

KRIS
You can’t miss Mars; it’s the pale orange star just above the moon.

PAUL
The moon reaches first quarter phase on the 12th.

RACHEL
Now that the weather is warmer, plan to spend a little time moon watching tonight.

KRIS
You’ll detect the most numerous craters in the lunar south in a region called the lunar highlands.

RACHEL
Above the lunar equator and surrounding the largest lunar maria is a mountain range called the lunar Apennines.

KRIS
Some of those mountain peaks you’ll see are 12,000 feet tall, or as high as mount Borah.

PAUL
April 12th is Yuri's Night 2008.

RACHEL
It’s a world space party celebrating the first manned launch into space of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

PAUL
Yuri made a single orbit around the world on April 12th, 1961.

KRIS
You can learn more about this celebration and the location of the closest party at its website, www.yurisnight.net.

PAUL
The moon passes close to the Beehive star cluster on the evening of the 13th.

RACHEL
As soon as it’s dark, look 4 degrees to moon’s right for the Beehive.

KRIS
Four degrees is roughly half the distance across your binoculars’ field of view.

RACHEL
You’ll know you’ve seen the Beehive when you see a small sprinkle of stars.

PAUL
On the next day, the 14th, the moon, Regulus, and Saturn form a straight line spanning 6 degrees.

KRIS
That’s just close enough together for all three to be seen together in your binoculars.

RACHEL
Regulus is the lucida or brightest star of Leo the Lion and is in the center of the trio. It’s also the largest of the three objects at three million miles across.

PAUL
Regulus is also the most distant of the three objects at 77 light-years away.

KRIS
Saturn is pale yellow in color and on the right. The planet is 74 thousand miles across and only 800 million miles away.

RACHEL
The moon is puny at 2,000 miles across and less than 250 thousand miles away.

KRIS
Regulus is 42 times larger than Saturn and Saturn is 35 times larger than the moon.

RACHEL
That means Regulus is roughly larger than Saturn by the same factor that Saturn is larger than the moon.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of April. In next week’s show, we’ll take about how astronomers classify stars by brightness and this month’s meteor shower.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: April Week 1

2008-04-06T11:00:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Forty-five years ago, on April 2nd, 1963, the Soviet Union launched their first successful flight to earth’s neighbor, the moon.

KRIS
The Soviets made a change to Luna 4’s mission profile, which made the spacecraft more successful than the previous Luna spacecraft. Luna 4 was first placed into earth orbit and then it later rocketed to the moon in what is called a park orbit.

RACHEL
Prior to Luna 4, lunar missions traveled straight to the moon in what is called a direct ascent.

KRIS
If something went slightly wrong in a direct ascent, the spacecraft would miss the moon completely.

RACHEL
Because of the safety of park orbits over direct ascents, the manned Apollo missions to the moon also used them.

PAUL
What was Luna 4’s mission goal?

KRIS
We don’t know; the Soviets kept mum on the subject.

RACHEL
However, based on similar missions, Luna 4 may have been targeted for a hard landing on the moon. However, a failure in its upper stage caused it to pass the moon 5,000 miles above its surface.

PAUL
The moon is new on April 5th.

KRIS
That makes the 5th the perfect night for deep sky observing because the moon’s light won’t interfere with your ability to see faint objects.

RACHEL
It’s even a better night to use your telescope because it’s a Saturday night.

PAUL
The Pioneer 11 spacecraft left earth 35 years ago on the 5th.

KRIS
Pioneer 11 was a near twin of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft.

RACHEL
Together, they were the first spacecraft to pass through the asteroid belt and explore the outer solar system.

PAUL
It’s flyby of Jupiter was the second time a spacecraft had visited this planet.

KRIS
Because Pioneer 10 was successful, Pioneer 11 traveled a trajectory that let Jupiter’s gravity send it to the other side of the solar system to Saturn.

RACHEL
This path over the top of the solar system took nearly five years for Pioneer 11 to complete.

KRIS
However, Pioneer 11 was still the first spacecraft to visit Saturn. It beat Voyager 1 to Saturn by 14 months.

RACHEL
Pioneer 11 has escaped our solar system, but unfortunately, it stopped communicating with earth in 1995.

PAUL
The Russians celebrate another lunar anniversary this week.

KRIS
That’s right. It was 40 years ago on the 7th that they launched Luna 14 into lunar orbit.

RACHEL
Although this spacecraft successfully went into orbit around the moon, it was not designed to return images of its surface.

KRIS
Instead, the spacecraft returned data on the solar and galactic radiation near the moon.

RACHEL
It also collected data on the shape and strength of the moon’s gravitational field and tested radio communications between the earth and moon.

KRIS
That’s Idaho skies for the first week of April. Join us next week to hear how the moon will guide you to several astronomical targets during the week and about Yuri’s Night.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: March week 4

2008-03-17T17:37:00.000-06:00

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
On the 26th, the moon reaches the apogee of its orbit.

KRIS
Non-circular, or what astronomers call elliptical orbits like the moon’s have a closest point and farthest point.

RACHEL
Astronomers call the farthest point of an orbit the apogee if it’s an orbit around the earth

KRIS
The suffix gee of the word apogee means earth.

PAUL
Gee.

RACHEL
No. apogee.

KRIS
This month’s lunar apogee is 251,700 miles from the center of the earth.

PAUL
Do you want someone to point out the star Antares to you?

RACHEL
Then get up early on the 27th to see the moon do just that.

KRIS
Antares, the red giant lucida of Scorpius the Scorpion will be 1-1/2 degrees, or three lunar diameters, to the upper right of moon.

RACHEL
Antares is a big star. It’s 800 times larger than our sun.

KRIS
If it replaced the sun in our solar system, its surface would reach as far as Jupiter’s orbit.

RACHEL
Per square inch, our sun emits more light than Antares.

KRIS
However, since Antares is so big, its combined output is 90,000 times brighter than our sun.

PAUL
Antares is an example of what happens to large stars when they grow old.

RACHEL
Their cores grow so hot they begin to fuse elements heavier than hydrogen.

KRIS
As a result, their outer surfaces expand tremendously.

RACHEL
Antares has expanded so much that its outer layer is more like a hot vacuum.

PAUL
The moon reaches last quarter phase on the 29th.

KRIS
Now that the weather is finally getting comfortable again, tonight would make a great time to go moon watching.

RACHEL
Be sure to focus your attention on the long shadows at the lunar terminator, or straight-edged boundary between day and night.

KRIS
That’s where you’ll see the most detail in the lunar terrain.

RACHEL
You’ll see the greatest amount of lunar craters in the south of the moon.

PAUL
Astronomers call this region the southern highlands.

KRIS
It represents a very old part of the moon.

RACHEL
It was heavily bombarded 3.8 billion years ago.

KRIS
Since the end of the late heavy bombardment, there’s been no resurfacing of the southern highlands.

RACHEL
This is unlike the northern part of the moon where you find lots of maria, or lunar seas.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of March. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. 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.

Transcipt: March Week 3

2008-03-12T16:01:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Fifty years ago on the 17th, the United States launched the Vanguard satellite.

RACHEL
Three months earlier, the original Vanguard booster exploded at lift-off in front of millions on television.

KRIS
The second booster launch was successful and Vanguard became our second satellite in earth orbit and the fourth in the history of the space age.

RACHEL
The Vanguard booster was so good at launching small satellites into orbit that Vanguard is still in orbit today.

PAUL
The now defunct Vanguard is a six inch aluminum sphere with six antennas and six tiny solar cells.

KRIS
Because of atmospheric drag that exists even 2,000 miles above the earth, Vanguard will return to earth’s atmosphere in 240 years.

RACHEL
One of Vanguard’s most interesting discoveries is that the world is not round like a sphere, but is more pear-shaped.

PAUL
On the evening of the 17th, you can use the moon to find the Beehive star cluster.

KRIS
To the moon’s right and 5-1/2 degrees away, you’ll see a star cluster larger than the moon’s diameter.

RACHEL
The angular distance between the moon and the Beehive is nearly the distance across your binoculars field of view.

KRIS
So once you have the moon in sight, turn your binoculars to the right until the moon is close to the left edge of the field of view.

RACHEL
Then you’ll see a scattering of stars on the right that will remind you of a swarm of bees.

PAUL
On the 18th, the moon leads you to Regulus and Saturn.

KRIS
From the moon to Saturn spans an angle of 5-1/2 degrees, or less than the field of view of your binoculars.

RACHEL
Regulus is the lucida, or brightest star of Leo the Lion and is 77 light years away.

KRIS
Saturn will appear star-like and yellow in your binoculars.

PAUL
The Vernal Equinox occurs on the 19th at 10:48 PM.

RACHEL
That’s the beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere.

KRIS
If you could see the earth’s equator projected into space, the sun would be sitting on it today.

RACHEL
And from today until the first day of autumn, the sun will be north of the earth’s equator.

KRIS
As a consequence, we’ll enjoy days that are longer than the night.

PAUL
Beginning on the evening of the 23rd, the Zodiacal Light is visible in the west after it gets dark.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light appears as a faint triangle of light reaching half way up to the zenith.

KRIS
The light is actually sunlight, but reflected from dust orbiting between earth and the sun.

RACHEL
The source of this dust is asteroid collisions and comet tails.

KRIS
The dust is constantly being replenished.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light will remain visible for the next two weeks before evening moonlight begins interfering.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of March. Next week our two topics are the moon and Antares.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: March Week 2

2008-03-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The star cluster M-35 is easy to find on the night of the 10th because of Mars.

KRIS
Mars is the bright yellow-orange star in Gemini and is high overhead in the southwest.

RACHEL
Mars is less than two degrees above the cluster.

KRIS
For reference, two degrees is about the same angle as the width of two of your fingers if viewed from your outstretched hand.

RACHEL
Two degrees is also less than one-third of your binocular’s field of view.

KRIS
If you place Mars in the center of your binoculars then you’ll see the M-35 star cluster as a fuzzy spot most of the way towards the bottom.

RACHEL
The cluster will be easier to see if you move brighter Mars out of your binoculars.

PAUL
Also occurring on the 10th, the moon is at perigee.

KRIS
Gee.

RACHEL
No perigee, or the moon’s closest distance from earth this month.

KRIS
The distance between the centers of the earth and the moon is 227,600 miles today.

RACHEL
While that’s a significant distance compared to the distances we travel on earth, it’s just peanuts compared to the rest of the solar system.

KRIS
Why even the distance across the sun’s equator is nearly four times greater than the moon’s distance from earth.

PAUL
Half way up in the west on the evening of the 12th, you’ll see the moon near the Pleiades.

RACHEL
Their distance apart is five degrees, or 10 lunar diameters.

KRIS
That’s close enough that both the moon and Pleiades will fit within your binoculars.

RACHEL
To the moon’s left is the sparser star cluster, the Hyades.

KRIS
The Hyades is another nice binocular object.

PAUL
The moon reaches the first quarter phase on the 14th.

RACHEL
This month the first quarter moon is part of a nice celestial alignment

KRIS
You’ll see Mars below the moon and the star cluster M-35 farther below Mars.

RACHEL
The entire trio will fit well within your binocular’s field of view.

KRIS
In binoculars, you’ll see the rugged surface of the moon, especially along its terminator.

RACHEL
Mars will be the bright orange star below the moon.

KRIS
M-35 will appear as a fuzzy sprinkle of stars in good binoculars.

PAUL
The Ulysses spacecraft finishes its third pass over the sun’s North Pole on the 15th.

RACHEL
You’ve never heard of Ulysses? That’s not too surprising, not many people have.

KRIS
Launched 18 years ago, Ulysses is unique in that it orbits the solar system in a high inclination orbit.

RACHEL
Virtually every spacecraft orbits the earth or sun in the same plane as the earth’s orbit which astronomers refer to as a low inclination orbit.

PAUL
Ulysses’ orbit is perpendicular to earth’s orbit, and therefore is called a high inclination orbit..

KRIS
Ulysses was launched into a high inclination orbit with the help of Jupiter. One of the goals of Ulysses is to observe the sun’s polar regions,

RACHEL
So on every one of its orbits, the 800 pound Ulysses loops out to the orbit of Jupiter and back in again over the sun’s poles.

KRIS
It’s suite of instruments study the sun’s gamma and x radiation, magnetic field, and solar wind.

RACHEL
You can read about this little known, but unique mission at its website, ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of March. Next week’s show includes the Vanguard satellite, the vernal equinox, and the Zodiacal Light.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: March Week 1

2008-03-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
..And Paul

PAUL
Hey! We can Jupiter again!

RACHEL
That’s right. On the morning of the 2nd Jupiter will appear as the bright star to the moon’s left.

PAUL
The celestial pair is low in the east, so you’ll need to look for them shortly before dawn, or around 6 AM.

RACHEL
Their distance apart is 7 degrees. That’s just close enough for them to fit within your binocular’s field of view.

PAUL
The moon moves rapidly across the sky, compared to far more distant Jupiter. So tomorrow morning, Jupiter will appear seven degrees to the moon’s right.

RACHEL
Jupiter is one of the best planets for your telescope.

PAUL
Its brightness, large size, and ever changing moons put on a great telescopic show.

RACHEL
Even in binoculars, you can begin to see the planet’s round shape and largest satellites.

PAUL
What are the largest satellites of Jupiter?

PAUL
There are four of them, and Galileo discovered them in his telescope in 1609 and 1610.

RACHEL
The smallest is Io. It’s the closest to Jupiter, so it’s stretched and squeezed by the gravities of Jupiter and its other satellites.

PAUL
This continual tugging heats tiny Io up to the point that volcanoes erupt on its surface.

RACHEL
Did you know there are more volcanoes erupting right now on Io than on earth?

PAUL
The next satellite is Europa. It’s as smooth as a billiard ball because its soft icy surface continuously fills in any new craters.

PAUL
The interior of Europa is probably warm enough that there’s a liquid ocean below its icy crust.

RACHEL
The next satellite is Ganymede and it’s the largest satellite in the solar system.

PAUL
In fact, Ganymede is even larger than the smallest planet, Mercury.

RACHEL
Jupiter’s outermost satellite is the heavily cratered Callisto. Callisto is one of the solar system’s largest satellites; it’s even larger than our moon.

PAUL
You can see all four Galilean Satellites with your binoculars.

RACHEL
Hold your binoculars steady for your best views of these satellites.

PAUL
Try propping them up against a tree or fence.

RACHEL
Through your binoculars, they’ll appear as tiny stars next to brighter Jupiter.

PAUL
Speaking of satellites, ours is new on the 7th.

PAUL
If you could see this month’s new moon, you’d see it pass just over the top of the sun from our perspective.

RACHEL
Somewhere in space, way above the North Pole, there’s a total solar eclipse today.

PAUL
Daylight Saving Time ends on the morning of the 9th.

PAUL
So be sure to set your clocks ahead by one hour before you go to bed on the 8th.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho skies for the first week of March. Join us next week to hear about the moon, a star cluster, and the Ulysses spacecraft. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
Paul..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: February Week 4

2008-02-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Zodiacal Light is now well placed for viewing in the evening.

RACHEL
And it will remain until around March 8th when moon light begins interfering again.

KRIS
During the next three months, the Zodiacal Light rises steeply above the western horizon after sunset.

RACHEL
Its steepness makes is easier to see because the Zodiacal Light climbs its highest above the horizon.

KRIS
The Zodiacal Light appears as a faint pillar of light that is best seen with the unaided eye.

PAUL
So don’t use a telescope or binoculars, they’ll magnify too much and show too little.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is faint enough that you need a dark location to see it.

PAUL
Saturn reaches opposition on the night of the 24th.

KRIS
What does that mean?

RACHEL
It means the ringed world rises near sunset and sets near sunrise.

KRIS
At opposition, Saturn is at it’s nearest to Earth for 2008.

PAUL
Great!

RACHEL
For Saturn, that means it’s 770 million miles away.

PAUL
Bummer.

KRIS
At that distance, it takes a radio signal from NASA an hour and nine minutes to reach the Cassini spacecraft currently in orbit around Saturn.

RACHEL
Saturn appears as a pale-yellow star to the unaided eye and binoculars. You’ll find it 1/3rd of the way above the eastern horizon at 9:00 PM.

KRIS
That puts it just below the stars of Leo the Lion.

RACHEL
However, unlike the stars in Leo, Saturn doesn’t twinkle unless the air is very turbulent.

PAUL
Forty years ago on the 24th astronomer Jocelyn Bell and her college advisor Dr. Anthony Hewish found a one inch long squiggle on a chart recording made by their radio telescope.

KRIS
That short squiggle was so perfectly regular in time, that at first, they wondered if they had discovered the radio beacon of an extraterrestrial civilization.

RACHEL
Instead, they had discovered the radio pulses of a rapidly rotating neutron star, or pulsar.

PAUL
At the end of their lives, massive stars are unable to support their weight through nuclear fusion.

KRIS
Therefore, they collapse and explode as a supernova. The explosion and gravity crushes the protons, electrons, and neutrons in their core into a ball around 12 miles across.

RACHEL
That makes a teaspoon of neutron star weigh the same as a mountain on earth.

KRIS
Shrinking a star by a factor of 80,000 increases its spin rate by the same factor.

RACHEL
Therefore, pulsars can spin faster than 100 times per second.

KRIS
Creating a neutron star doesn’t just increase it rotation rate, it also increases the strength of its magnetic field.

RACHEL
The combination of a rapid rotation rate and strong magnetic field creates a machine capable of launching powerful beams of radiation from its north and south poles.

KRIS
When the pole of a rotating neutron star sweeps past the earth, we detect its beam of radiation as a blip in a radio telescope.

PAUL
And that’s Bell and Hewish discovered on February 24th, 1968.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of February. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. 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.

Transcript: February Week 3

2008-02-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
You’ll be able to find the Beehive star cluster easily on the night of the 18th.

KRIS
Look below the moon less than half a binocular’s field of view for a large sprinkle of stars.

RACHEL
There’ll be more stars to see if you move the moon outside the view of your binoculars.

KRIS
In dark skies, this cluster is visible to the unaided eye as a faint, fuzzy star.

PAUL
Nicolas Copernicus was born on February 19th, 1473.

RACHEL
Best known for the modern heliocentric theory, Copernicus was a well educated Catholic cleric.

KRIS
However, he was not really an astronomer. In fact, astronomy played a tiny part in his life.

RACHEL
Yet, he still developed a model of the solar system based on observation and mathematics.

PAUL
Since the sun was at the center of the solar system in his model, it’s called a heliocentric model.

KRIS
Now Copernicus was not the first person to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system.

RACHEL
That’s right. Several ancient Greeks and Arabs had done the same centuries prior.

KRIS
However, Copernicus was the first to develop a scientific version of the heliocentric model of the solar system.

RACHEL
Copernicus spent 29 years developing his greatest work and it was not published in final form until he was near death.

KRIS
Legend has it that Copernicus saw the first copy of his book, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, on the day he died.

RACHEL
Copernicus’ book was not controversial when it was first published.

KRIS
In fact, it was a popular work among the Catholic clergy.

RACHEL
It wasn’t until Galileo’s 1633 trial for heresy that the church banned On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.

PAUL
Yippee! We get to see a total lunar eclipse on the night of the 20th.

KRIS
The eclipse begins at 5:36 PM in Idaho, but won’t be visible until 6:13 when the moon rises

PAUL
For our listeners in California, the eclipse begins an hour earlier, but you’ll have to wait later for the moon to rise.

RACHEL
The lighter outermost shadow of the earth is called the penumbra and the darker innermost shadow is called the umbra.

KRIS
Typically, it takes an hour before we can faintly see the penumbra on the moon.

RACHEL
So don’t expect the eclipse to be obvious as soon as it begins. Mid eclipse occurs at 8:26 and the moon could appear bright copper red, dark charcoal, or any color and shade in between.

KRIS
The last vestiges of the eclipse will disappear around 10:00.

PAUL
Don’t miss this eclipse, as it’s our only total lunar eclipse for the next three years.

RACHEL
During the lunar eclipse, you’ll see the star Regulus above the moon and Saturn to the moon’s left.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of February. Next week we’ll discuss a light in the sky that most people have never seen, the Zodiacal Light. Hear about that and the discovery of pulsars.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: February Week 2

2008-02-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon reaches perigee on the 13th.

RACHEL
The moon’s closest distance from the center of the earth this month is only 230,000 miles.

KRIS
At a jogging speed of six miles per hour, it would only take you four years and five months to jog to the moon.

PAUL
A couple of hours later, the moon reaches the first quarter phase.

RACHEL
The moon appears as a half moon tonight, and that’s the best shape to go moon watching.

KRIS
Your best views are along the moon’s terminator or boundary between day and night.

RACHEL
Along the terminator, the shadows appear their longest and they really bring out the details on craters and mountains.

PAUL
In honor of the works of the French science fiction writer, Jules Verne, the European Space Agency has named its first automated transfer vehicle, or ATV, after him.

KRIS
The launch of Jules Verne is scheduled to take place on the 14th if weather and its rocket booster cooperate.

RACHEL
Jules Verne launches on top of Europe’s largest rocket booster, the Ariane 5.

KRIS
Its destination will be the International Space Station, or ISS.

RACHEL
Jules Verne will carry tons of supplies to the astronauts and will dock with the ISS under computer control.

PAUL
On Valentine’s Night, the moon appears near the star clusters, Pleiades and Hyades.

KRIS
So take your Valentine out to see these clusters and the half moon tonight.

RACHEL
And be sure to bring binoculars for your best views.

PAUL
NASA launched the first geosynchronous satellite on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1963.

KRIS
The satellite was named Syncom-1.

RACHEL
Once it entered Earth orbit, its kick motor was to fire and send it to its proper orbit.

KRIS
However, after 19 seconds of firing, Syncom-1 stopped transmitting.

RACHEL
Probably the kick motor exploded and destroyed the satellite.

PAUL
Later, NASA successfully launched Syncom-2 into the proper orbit where it relayed radio and television communications between ground stations on earth.

KRIS
Satellites, like Syncom are located 22,300 miles above the equator and therefore take exactly 24 hours to orbit the Earth.

RACHEL
From our perspective on the ground, the satellite hangs fixed in the sky in what is called a geostationary orbit.

PAUL
Its apparent motionlessness makes it easy to keep antennas trained on the satellite.

KRIS
Not only is it easier to track a satellite in geostationary orbit, but since it’s motionless, it’s always in position to provide communications.

RACHEL
The most famous of the Syncoms was Syncom-3. It relayed live coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the United States.

PAUL
Are you looking for Mars? Then you’re in luck

KRIS
The Moon guides you there on the night of the 15th.

RACHEL
Mars appears as the light orange star to the Moon’s left.

KRIS
The distance between the Moon and Mars is three degrees, or six lunar diameters.

RACHEL
In three dimensional space however, their distance apart is really 84 million miles.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of February. Next week’s show is about Nicholas Copernicus and our total lunar eclipse.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: February Week 1

2008-02-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
We begin February with a near conjunction between the planets Jupiter and Venus.

KRIS
On the 1st, both brilliant planets are visible after 6:30 AM low in the east.

RACHEL
Their distance apart will be half of a degree, or the angular distance across the moon.

KRIS
Venus is to the upper left and Jupiter, slightly dimmer is to the lower right.

RACHEL
You should be able to see this pair until the sun rises, and even later, if you know were to look.

PAUL
If you want to see them after the sun rises, you need to watch their motion across the sky carefully.

KRIS
While you’re out, look for Antares, the lucida of Scorpius to the crescent moon’s left.

RACHEL
The moon and Antares are so close together that the moon’s glare makes seeing Antares difficult. So use your binoculars to see both clearly.

PAUL
Though a little difficult to see, the thin crescent moon appears to the left of Venus and Jupiter on the morning of the 3rd.

KRIS
You should begin looking low in the east for them by around 6:30 AM because by 7:00, the sky may be too bright to see the moon.

RACHEL
A pair of binoculars will definitely help you see them, though.

PAUL
Late on the evening of the 6th, the moon reaches new.

KRIS
When new, the moon passes it closest to the sun from Earth’s perspective.

RACHEL
Most months the moon passes either above or below the Sun, so we don’t see an eclipse every new moon.

KRIS
However, if you’re listening to us in Antarctica, you’ll get to see a solar eclipse today.

RACHEL
Dress warmly.

PAUL
Novelist Jules Verne was born on February 8th, 1828.

KRIS
Considered one of the fathers of the science fiction genre, Verne is possibly the third most translated author in the world.

RACHEL
Verne’s science fiction stories are in many ways, predictive of future events.

KRIS
Did you know he accurately described submarines in his story 1870 story, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, 31 years before the commissioning of the first effective submarine?

RACHEL
And that many of the elements in his 1865 story, From the Earth to the Moon match those in the Apollo 11 mission to the moon 104 years later.

KRIS
The spaceship in From the Earth to the Moon was launched in Florida, not very far from the Kennedy Space Center.

RACHEL
The name of the spacecraft was Columbiad, nearly the same as Columbia, the name of the Apollo 11 command module.

PAUL
Umm, I wonder if he had a time machine.

KRIS
No no, that’s H.G. Wells.

PAUL
Oh.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho skies for the first week of February. Join us next week when we’ll talk about two spacecraft and moon watching.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

KRIS
Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcripts: January Week 3

2008-01-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Moon reaches the first quarter phase on the 15th.

RACHEL
The first quarter phase is the most popular phase to go moon watching

KRIS
That’s because the moon is up in the evening

RACHEL
And because the shadows along the lunar terminator show the greatest amount of detail.

KRIS
Even if you only have a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, go moon watching tonight.

PAUL
Meanwhile, near the Sun, the MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first flyby of tge planet Mercury on the 15th.

RACHEL
MESSENGER stands for MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging.

KRIS
It’s an American spacecraft developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and launched by NASA.

RACHEL
MESSENGER left Earth on August 3rd, 2004 and is finally reaching Mercury for the first time.

KRIS
The reason it has taken so long for MESSENGER to reach Mercury is that the spacecraft will eventually go into orbit around Mercury.

RACHEL
However, to do so, the spacecraft had to lose a lot of speed.

KRIS
Rather than using fuel to slow down, MESSENGER has played a game of cosmic billiards with Earth and Venus.

RACHEL
Each time MESSENGER has passed these planets; it has lost speed and dropped into a lower orbit around the sun.

KRIS
After making three passes of Mercury, the spacecraft will have just the right speed to easily enter into a Mercurian orbit in March 2011.

RACHEL
From its orbital perch, MESSENGER will photograph nearly the entire surface of this planet and map its composition.

PAUL
The moon passes close enough to the Pleiades star cluster on the night of the 17th.

KRIS
They’ll be close enough to be seen together in your binoculars.

RACHEL
Just look overhead after it gets dark, the Pleiades star cluster will be to the moon’s lower left

PAUL
On the 19th, the red planet, Mars, is to the upper right of the waning gibbous moon.

KRIS
Mars is not really red. Martian landers and rovers show that the surface is more brown or light orange from the iron oxide in its soil.

RACHEL
That makes Mars one rusty planet. So look for Mars near the Moon on the night of the 19th.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of January. Next week is Moon week at Idaho Skies. We’ll talk about lunar markings and let the Moon be our astronomical guide.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL..
and Rachel.

Transcripts: January Wee k2

2008-01-13T12:22:00.001-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week we mentioned that Isaac Newton discovered that a force of gravity that was a one over r-squared force could explain the falling of an apple and the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. But what does one over r-squared mean?

KRIS
A one over r-squared force drops off in strength at the square of the distance between two bodies.

RACHEL
So if the distance between two astronomical bodies is doubled, the force between them becomes on one-fourth as strong.

KRIS
Forces like these include the forces of magnetism and electric fields.

RACHEL
Newton’s discovery that gravity is a one over r-squared force lead to the discovery that gravity extends across the solar system to hold all the planets in orbit around the Sun.

KRIS
The same year Newton made his gravitational discovery, he developed a mathematical method of calculation. It used infinitesimals to prove that planets moved in elliptical orbits under a one over r-squared force.

RACHEL
You may know that his mathematical method by its more popular name, calculus.

PAUL
Last week was the 40th anniversary of the launch of Surveyor 7.

KRIS
Surveyor was a program of seven unmanned spacecraft targeted for soft landings on the Moon.

RACHEL
Initially, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed Surveyor to be a stand alone program for lunar exploration.

PAUL
Eventually, the Surveyor spacecraft were suppose to carry remotely controlled rovers to the moon.

KRIS
In 1961, President Kennedy announced the American goal of landing a man on the moon. As a result, Surveyor became a prelude to the manned Apollo landings on the moon. Its extensive exploration of the moon and rover ideas were dropped.

RACHEL
The last one, Surveyor 7 made the fifth successful American landing on the Moon on the 10th.

KRIS
Surveyor 7 returned over 21,000 pictures of the lunar surface, dug trenches, moved rocks, and sampled the lunar surface with its alpha backscatter experiment.

RACHEL
Surveyor 7 discovered that the rocks of the lunar highlands near the crater Tycho were not as rich in iron and iron-loving elements as the lava plains of the lunar maria.

PAUL
The 8th is the 35th anniversary of the Soviet’s launch of Luna 21.

KRIS
From the name of the spacecraft, you can guess its target was the Moon.

RACHEL
Luna 21 made a soft landing on the Moon and did what Surveyor hoped to do, land a rover on the moon.

KRIS
The rover, named Lunokhod 2 was a four foot tall moon buggy controlled by a team of five drivers back on Earth.

PAUL
The rover weighed 1,850 pounds on Earth and was solar powered.

RACHEL
Its eight wheels each had their own motor that drove at two speeds, roughly 0.6 and 1.2 miles per hour.

KRIS
Television cameras onboard provided its Earth-crew a 360 degree panorama around the rover.

RACHEL
During its mission, Lunokhod 2 traveled nearly 22 miles across the lunar surface, returned 80,000 television pictures, measured the lunar magnetic field, and tested the strength of the lunar soil.

KRIS
The last experiment onboard \Lunokhod 2 was a French built laser retro-reflector that allowed observatories on Earth measure the distance between the Earth and Moon.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of January. Next week we focus our telescopes on the Moon and Mercury.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: January Week 1

2008-01-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the first week of 2008. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The earth reaches perihelion on the 3rd.

RACHEL
Since the Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit, there are two times when the Earth is at its closest and farthest points from the Sun.

KRIS
Perihelion is the name for the point in Earth’s orbit that’s closest to the Sun and aphelion is the name of the point in Earth’s orbit that’s the farthest.

RACHEL
Since perihelion puts Earth nearly 2 % closer to the Sun, it increases sunlight at Earth by more than 3% than at aphelion.

PAUL
But this has an insignificant effect on Earth’s climate and is not the cause of the season.

KRIS
The tilt of the Earth’s hemisphere towards or away from the Sun has a much grater effect on the climate and is the cause of the seasons.

RACHEL
Today Earth is 91,375,400 miles from the Sun.

KRIS
That’s 98.3% of our average distance, or .98 astronomical units, which is the name astronomers call the average distance between the Earth and Sun.

PAUL
While we’re sill on the 3rd, the moon is also at apogee, or its greatest distance from Earth.

RACHEL
Measured from center to center, Earth and the moon are 251,700 miles apart.

KRIS
Let’s see, at a driving speed of 75 miles per hour…..

SOUND OF CALCULATOR BUTTONS

KRIS
It would take me 139 days to drive to the Moon.

PAUL
Well that’s a lot better than trying to drive to the Sun today.

RACHEL
Right, it would take…..

SOUND OF CALCULATOR BUTTONS

RACHEL
..it would take 139 years to drive to the Sun.

PAUL
The Quadrantid meteor shower reaches its peak on the morning of the 4th.

KRIS
On the 4th, the Moon is two days from new and only 13% illuminated.

RACHEL
So it will rise very late and reflect very little interfering light.

KRIS
With the dark skies and the shower’s peak occurring at night, this year’s Quadrantid meteor shower promises to be good.

RACHEL
Your best views should begin around 1:00 AM and the meteors will appear to originate from the low northeast.

KRIS
Watch this shower if you can, as the next good shower for Idaho doesn’t occur until April.

PAUL
We celebrate Isaac Newton on the 4th.

RACHEL
Newton was born 365 years ago, on what was Christmas Day 1643.

KRIS
With the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, his birthday moved up 10 days to January 4th.

RACHEL
Newton is best known for his discovery of how gravity works.

KRIS
The city of London was wracked by the plaque in 1666. To avoid it, Newton left the university and went back to his home in the country.

RACHEL
While there, Newton observed an apple fall from a tree.

KRIS
This got him wondering.

NEWTON
Is the force of gravity that brings apples to the ground, the same force that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth?

RACHEL
Using an estimate for the distance between the Earth and Moon, and the Moon’s orbital period around the Earth, Newton estimated how fast the Moon is falling towards the Earth.

KRIS
The amount was a close agreement for a force that dropped off by the square of the distance.

RACHEL
And we’ll talk about what that means next week.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of 2008. Listen to our show next week when we’ll fill you in on one over r-squared forces and two unmanned lunar landings.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: December Week 4

2007-11-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the last week of 2007. We’re your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Close to midnight on the 28th, the moon appears between the planet Saturn and the star Regulus.

RACHEL
Saturn is the yellowish star seven degrees to the lower left of the Moon.

KRIS
That’s about the width of three fingers when viewed from your extended hand.

RACHEL
Regulus is the alpha star of Leo the Lion

KRIS
At a distance of 77 light years, the light you see from Regulus tonight left the star in 1930.

RACHEL
Regulus is the closest bright star to the ecliptic

PAUL
Ecliptic? What’s an ecliptic?

KRIS
The ecliptic is the imaginary path in the sky that the moon, sun, and planets appear to travel along.

RACHEL
Since it’s so close, Regulus is often covered or eclipsed by the moon.

KRIS
Regulus is a very young star, as far as stars go.

RACHEL
In fact, it’s only a few hundred million years old.

KRIS
That may sound old, but compare that age to our sun and solar system which are 4-1/2 billion years old, or about 200 times older than Regulus.

RACHEL
Regulus is not spherical in shape

KRIS
That’s right. It spins on its axis in just 16 hours, so it’s flattened at its poles.

RACHEL
Regulus won’t live long, compared to stars like the sun.

KRIS
That’s because Regulus is almost four times heavier than the sun.

PAUL
To be strictly correct, astronomers say Regulus is almost four times more massive than the sun.

RACHEL
Heavy stars crush their cores harder with their greater mass.

KRIS
The result is that the temperature inside a heavy star’s core is higher.

RACHEL
The high temperature speeds the fusion reaction inside the star.

KRIS
Not only does the star fuse its hydrogen into helium faster, it becomes unstable sooner.

PAUL
In time Regulus will accumulate enough helium ash inside its core that it will contract and grow even hotter.

RACHEL
When its temperature grows ten times hotter than when it was born, its helium will begin fusing into carbon and oxygen.

KRIS
The increased heat will inflate Regulus into a red giant star.

RACHEL
Regulus isn’t massive enough to fuse its carbon and oxygen ash. So most likely, Regulus will settle down into a white dwarf after it has finished fusing helium.

KRIS
The density of Regulus as a white dwarf will be about 16 tons per cubic inch.

RACHEL
Imagine the weight of a few cars in the size of a teaspoon.

PAUL
So look on the 28th for Regulus and the Moon together in your binoculars.

KRIS
Don’t forget to also look for Saturn, the yellow star a palm’s width to the lower left of the Moon.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of 2007. Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari. Join us in 2008 for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS..
and Kris.

Transcript: December Week 3

2007-11-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 17th.

RACHEL
So if it’s not too cold, take some time to look at the moon through your binoculars.

KRIS
The first quarter moon rises around noon and sets around midnight.

RACHEL
That puts the first quarter moon in the most convenient location in the sky.

KRIS
Look along the terminator, or the boundary between night and day, to see the most detail.

RACHEL
At the terminator, the sun is just beginning to rise. So the shadows are at their longest.

KRIS
The long shadows bring out the most detail. And on the moon, our nearest celestial neighbor, the details are very visible

RACHEL
Even in a pair of binoculars.

PAUL
Earth passes its closest to the red planet on the 19th.

KRIS
This happens every 26 months, or every two years and two months.

RACHEL
When Earth catches up to Mars, the planet appears at its brightest in our sky.

PAUL
But if you look from Mars, the Earth is close to the Sun and very difficult to see.

KRIS
So look for a bright orange star that rises in the east near sunset.

RACHEL
That’s Mars and it’s only 54 million miles away.

PAUL
On the night of the 21st, the Pleiades are 1-1/2 degrees to upper right of moon.

KRIS
The Pleiades are more commonly known by the name, the Seven Sisters.

RACHEL
In Japan they’re called Subaru.

KRIS
Look three lunar diameters to the upper right of the moon on the night of the 21st with your binoculars to see the Pleiades star cluster.

RACHEL
Normally, this would be nice in binoculars. However, since the moon is nearly full, its light will wash out some of the cluster’s fainter stars.

PAUL
Eight minutes after midnight on the 22nd, the sun reaches the solstice.

KRIS
In other words, winter begins for Idaho.

RACHEL
If you were to watch the position of sunset throughout autumn, you would see it moving further south.

KRIS
At the solstice, the sun’s daily changes in sunset position come to a stop. Hence the name, solstice or sun standing still.

RACHEL
In a few weeks, we’ll see the sun is setting farther to the north.

KRIS
Then the days will start getting longer again.

RACHEL
Even though the day is getting longer, it will take the atmosphere and ground two months to show signs of warming.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 23rd.

KRIS
That same night, the Moon, Mars, and a star cluster are close enough together to be seen in your binoculars.

RACHEL
Mars is the bright orange star just to the right of the Moon. You can’t miss it.

KRIS
The star cluster is M-35 in Gemini. It’s three degrees or six lunar diameters to the right of the moon and Mars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of December. Listen next week as we talk about the close passage between the Moon, Saturn, and Regulus.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.