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.

Transcript: December Week 2

2007-11-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week we’re speaking with Chris Anderson at the Centennial Observatory in Twin Falls.

So Chris, what’s the big astronomical even for this week?

CHRIS
I think it would have to be the Geminid meteor shower which peaks this Friday morning in the early morning hours.

KRIS
Can you explain to us what exactly a meteor shower is?

CHRIS
A meteor shower is when Earth plows through a stream of debris left behind by a comet, a lot like you car driving through a cloud of bugs and splattering on your windshield on a summer night.

RACHEL
So which comet did the Geminids originate from?

CHRIS
It’s not one of the ones you’ve probably heard of, like comet Halley or Hale-Bopp, this is actually an object known as Phaethon, which is sort of a burned out comet, kind of a cross between a comet and an asteroid.

PAUL
So will our listeners need a telescope or pair of binoculars to see this shower?

CHRIS
Absolutely not. In fact, you don’t want to use a telescope or pair of binoculars because they limit how much of the sky you can see. Meteor showers occur all over the sky and you want your eyes to take in as much as possible at once.

KRIS
Chris, is there a particular part of the sky where we’ll be more likely to see to se the meteor shower?

CHRIS
Well they’ll appear to emanate from the constellation of Gemini, which in the pre-dawn hours will be pretty high in the sky. If you look near Gemini, you’ll see more meteors, but they’ll have shorter paths and if you look further away, you’ll see fewer but they’ll have longer paths.

RACHEL
Is 2007 a good year to view the shower?

CHRIS
As a matter of fact, it is. The moon is going to be setting early enough in the night so it won’t interfere with the shower. Plus, the meteors appear to be getting stronger every year. When they were first discovered in 1862, that was the first year anyone had seen them and there seems to be more of them every year that goes by.

KRIS
If I can’t go out Friday morning, is there another time I can see this meteor shower?

CHRIS
Yes. In fact, the shower lasts for the better part of the week. It will be strongest on Friday morning, but f you can’t get out until Saturday morning or if you want to look a little bit earlier like on Thursday morning, you should more than the usual number of meteors those nights as well.

RACHEL
So Chris, can you tell us a little bit about the observatory?

CHRIS
Absolutely. The Centennial Observatory is one of the largest public telescopes in Idaho, in fact the second largest. It’s also one of the largest handicap accessible telescopes in the world. And we’re open the second Saturday of every month year around. And we have other events as well and people can find out about those by calling our information line at (208) 732-MOON

PAUL
Thanks Chris.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of December. Join us next week for more space and astronomy news in Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: December Week 1

2007-11-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
As you drive to work on the morning of the 5th a natural satellite, a star, and a planet are on display.

KRIS
They’re the Moon, Spica, and Venus and they form a small equilateral triangle low in the east.

RACHEL
Spica is the dim star at the top of the triangle.

KRIS
Venus forms the left corner of the triangle and appears as a bright star, while the moon forms the right corner of the triangle.

RACHEL
They’re almost close enough to be seen at the same time in a pair of binoculars.

KRIS
However, their distances from earth are 263 light years, 251 thousand miles, and 90 million miles respectively.

RACHEL
So much for being close together.

PAUL
If weather or technology doesn’t fail, the European Space Agency’s Columbus Laboratory will lift off for the International Space Station on the 6th.

KRIS
Columbus is Europe’s largest contribution to the ISS.

RACHEL
The module is 23 feet long and contains ten experiment racks with room for five more.

PAUL
What are experiment racks?

KRIS
Experiment racks are locations within the Columbus module where experiments from Earth can be carried by the Space Shuttle and plugged in.

RACHEL
These racks aren’t small. They’re the size of a phone booth and have all the connections an experiment would need.

KRIS
Astronauts onboard ISS or ground controllers on Earth can run the experiments on Columbus.

RACHEL
There are four additional experiment racks on Columbus, and these are located on the outside of Columbus.

PAUL
The moon reaches apogee on the 6th.

KRIS
Its greatest distance from Earth this month is 252,400 miles

PAUL
Hard to believe, but it’s been 35 years since the last Apollo mission was launched to the moon.

RACHEL
The target of Apollo 17 was the Taurus-Littrow region of the Moon.

KRIS
Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed with their rover on the moon on the 11th.

RACHEL
Did you know that Harrison was the only scientist to go the moon?

KRIS
During their three days on the moon, the Apollo 17 astronauts drove 19 miles across the lunar surface and collected 243 pounds of rocks.

RACHEL
One of the mission highlights was their discovery of orange soil.

KRIS
It was tiny beads of volcanic glass from a lunar fire fountain that was active billions of years ago.

RACHEL
It makes one wonder what other things the moon has waited billions of years for us to discover.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of December. Next week we talk with Chris Anderson of the Centennial Observatory about this month’s nice meteor shower.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
Kris..

RACHEL..
and Rachel.

Transcript: November Week 4

2007-11-24T13:15:00.001-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
That orange star you see to the moon’s right on the evening of the 26th is the planet Mars.

KRIS
The moon and Mars together should make a nice photograph or binocular object.

RACHEL
If you plan to take a photograph of the Moon and Mars, then use a telephoto lens, tripod, and cable release.

KRIS
The tripod will keep your camera steady. That’s really important when you use a telephoto lens and a long exposure.

RACHEL
And the cable release isolates your camera from your shaking hand.

PAUL
While you’re looking at Mars, there’s a new spacecraft on its way there.

KRIS
That’s JPL’s Phoenix Lander.

RACHEL
Phoenix was built from spare parts left over from the Mars Polar Lander.

KRIS
The Mars Polar Lander unfortunately didn’t land successfully on Mars.

RACHEL
But the problems with the Mars Polar Lander have been corrected in the Phoenix Lander.

KRIS
So next June we should get our first close up look at the Martian artic.

PAUL
The moon is our guide to the Beehive star cluster a second time this month.

RACHEL
Look for the moon just after midnight on Thursday the 29th.

KRIS
In your binoculars, you’ll see a cluster of stars five lunar diameters above the Moon’s upper right.

RACHEL
You should place the Moon just outside the bottom left of your binoculars field of view so the cluster is close to center in your binoculars.

KRIS
The stars in the Beehive cluster will span an area larger than the moon.

PAUL
Regulus is three degrees to the left of the moon on the morning of the 30th.

RACHEL
Regulus is the lucida of Leo the Lion.

KRIS
If you’re 77 years old, then Regulus is your birthday star this year.

RACHEL
The light you see from Regulus tonight left the star in 1930.

PAUL
Not only is the Moon close to Regulus, but so is Saturn.

KRIS
Saturn forms a straight line with the Moon and Regulus, but is 8 degrees, or nearly the width of your palm further away.

RACHEL
Saturn is the pale yellow star to the lower left of the moon.

PAUL
Speaking of Saturn, the Moon glides passed it on December 1st.

KRIS
The moon and Saturn will rise around 1:00 AM.

RACHEL
At two degrees, or four lunar diameters, the Moon and Saturn are close enough together to seen in your binoculars.

PAUL
Also on the 1st, the moon is at last quarter.

KRIS
This means the moon won’t rise until around midnight on the 2nd.

RACHEL
So if you’re looking for dark evening skies, this is the perfect moon phase.

KRIS
The sky will remain dark for viewing faint astronomical objects in your telescope or binoculars.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of November. Join us next month for the space and astronomy news for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari.

Transcript: November Week 3

2007-11-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon reaches perigee, or its shortest distance from earth on the 23rd.

RACHEL
This month, perigee has a distance of 221,900 miles.

KRIS
Or roughly 74 times across the United States.

PAUL
So at a speed of 75 miles per hour……

SCRIBBLING NOISE

RACHEL
Don’t forget to carry the one….

SCRIBBLING NOISE

PAUL
I calculate it will take 2,960 hours to drive that distance.

KRIS
Or 123 days.

RACHEL
Happy motoring!

PAUL
On the evening of the 23rd, the nearly full moon is 3-1/2 degrees west of the Pleiades.

KRIS
Three and a half degrees is about the width of two fingers when viewed from an extended hand.

RACHEL
Since the moon is west of the cluster, it will move closer to the cluster as the evening progresses.

KRIS
By 4:30 AM on the 24th, you’ll see the moon crossing the northern portion of the Pleiades in your binoculars.

RACHEL
Astronomers have discovered that the stars in the Pleiades began forming 100 million years ago.

KRIS
That was during the Mesozoic when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

RACHEL
That means the moon is 45 times older than the Pleiades, or 4.5 billion years old.

KRIS
By the way, in Japan, the Pleiades are called Subaru.

RACHEL
So the next time you see a Subaru driving down the road, look for its emblem of the Pleiades star cluster.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 24th.

KRIS
Many people call the full moon in November the Frost Moon

RACHEL
Did you know the full moon is more than twice as bright as a half moon?

KRIS
In fact, it’s around ten times brighter.

PAUL
But why? A fully lit ping pong ball looks twice as bright as a half lit one.

RACHEL
The full Moon gets brighter because it has a rough surface.

KRIS
That’s right. At full moon, the shadows from its rough surface are hidden. So we only see its bright surface.

RACHEL
But at half phase, we see sunlight reflected off the lunar surface plus shadows cast by the Moon’s rough terrain.

KRIS
This effect of brightening at full moon is called the opposition effect.

RACHEL
Since the moon reached perigee on the 23rd, those living near the coast can expect to see greater than average tides.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of November. Listen next week as we talk about the Moon, Mars, and the Phoenix lander.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: November Week 2

2007-11-08T20:53:00.002-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
It will be difficult to see, but on the evening of the 12th, the moon is to the lower left of Jupiter.

KRIS
So use your binoculars to see the Moon and Jupiter together.

RACHEL
To find them, look very low in the southwest at 6:00 PM.

KRIS
There, one binocular field of view above the horizon will be Jupiter.

RACHEL
And in the same field of view, and to the lower left of Jupiter, will be the thin crescent moon.

PAUL
On November 13th, the Rosetta spacecraft will make its second flyby of Earth.

KRIS
Rosetta is a space mission of the European Space Agency, or ESA.

RACHEL
Its destination is the comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

KRIS
Rosetta weighs three tons and is roughly the size of a compact car.

PAUL
That is, a compact car with solar panels 105 feet across.

RACHEL
Launched three years ago, Rosetta will rendezvous with, and orbit, its target comet in May 2014.

KRIS
It will spend 18 months studying the composition and behavior of this comet with its suite of 11 instruments.

PAUL
Doesn’t Rosetta carry a second spacecraft?

RACHEL
That’s right, it does. It’s a lander named Philae.

KRIS
Philae will attempt the first landing on the surface of a comet.

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

RACHEL
So if it’s not too cold, grab a pair of binoculars and go moon watching during the best lunar phase.

PAUL
The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of the 17th and morning of the 18th.

KRIS
You can expect to see 10 meteors per hour from this shower.

RACHEL
The moon sets around 1:00 AM, so moonlight will not interfere significantly with the shower after midnight, when the shower peaks.

KRIS
Leonids are fast meteors that streak out of the east after midnight.

RACHEL
Since there are other active showers this night, you’ll see more than 10 meteors per hour.

KRIS
As a comparison, on nights with no active meteor showers, you can expect to see an average of 7 meteors per hour.

PAUL
What exactly is a meteor?

RACHEL
Meteors are the glowing trails left by meteoroids as they travel through the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

KRIS
Most meteoroids come from comets and they tend to be small, only the size of a sand grain or BB.

RACHEL
The channel of glowing air they create can be smaller than one centimeter wide.

KRIS
Typically, the meteors you see are between 60 and 80 miles high and they’ll never make it to the ground.

RACHEL
The fact that you can see a one centimeter wide channel from over 100 miles away means the air in the channel glows incredibly hot.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of November. Our topics next week include the moon and the Pleiades star cluster.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: November Week 1

2007-11-08T20:53:00.001-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Morning Star rises just to the left of the moon on the morning of the 5th.

RACHEL
Venus is the Morning Star when it’s visible before sunrise. When Venus is visible after sunset, it’s called the Evening Star

KRIS
The angular distance between Venus and the Moon is 3 degrees, or 6 lunar diameters. That’s less than the width of two fingers when viewed from your outstretched hand.

RACHEL
The alignment of Venus and the moon will make an attractive photograph if you have a camera with a telephoto lens.

KRIS
Be sure to keep your camera steady during its exposure by mounting it to a tripod and using a cable release to open and close the shutter.

PAUL
NASA launched its second to last Surveyor 40 years ago on the 7th.

RACHEL
The target of Surveyor 6 was the center of the Moon as seen from Earth.

KRIS
It was a small volcanic plain called Sinus Medii, or Central Bay.

RACHEL
The 660 pound Surveyor landed safely on the moon on November 10, 1967.

KRIS
One week after landing, JPL commanded Surveyor 6 to fire its small attitude engines for a few seconds.

RACHEL
In response, Surveyor 6 lifted about 12 feet above the lunar surface and set back down about 10 feet away.

PAUL
That was the first lift off from another celestial body.

KRIS
After spending its first night on the Moon, Earth once again made contact with Surveyor 6 and found that the lander could not communicate properly with Earth.

RACHEL
That’s because the two week long cold lunar night had damaged the lander.

KRIS
Still, Surveyor 6 returned nearly 30,000 images of the lunar surface and confirmed that the surface consisted of basalt, or lava rock.

PAUL
Mercury is at its greatest western elongation on the morning of the 8th.

RACHEL
This means the innermost planet is easier to find because it’s at the greatest angular distance from the sun.

KRIS
To see this elusive planet, go outside around 6:30 AM.

RACHEL
Mercury will be the bright star very low to the horizon.

KRIS
The brightest star will be Venus. Little Mercury is left of Venus and only about one quarter as high above the horizon.

PAUL
435 years ago on the 11th, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe discovered a new, and very bright star in Cassiopeia.

RACHEL
Brahe saw a supernova, which astronomers call SN1572.

KRIS
Since new objects were not supposed to appear in the heavens, most people believed the supernova was an atmospheric event.

RACHEL
However, Brahe’s observations indicated that the new star did not shift positions from night to night.

KRIS
Therefore, he concluded that the new star was indeed just that, a new star.

RACHEL
Today we know this star was not a new star. It was actually an old star that was too faint to be seen before it exploded.

PAUL
The appearance of the supernova convinced Brahe to become an astronomer.

KRIS
Brahe’s careful measurements of stellar and planetary positions became the raw data that his assistant, Johannes Kepler, later used to prove that the planets, including the Earth, orbited around the sun.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of November. Next week the European spacecraft Rosetta gets a gravity boost from Earth. Hear about that and the Leonid meteor shower.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: October Week 5

2007-11-08T20:49:00.001-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Venus reaches greatest western elongation on the morning of the 28th.

KRIS
This means the Morning Star is well above the horizon as you drive to work this morning.

RACHEL
In a small telescope the planet sports a third quarter phase.

PAUL
The Mount Wilson telescope celebrates a birthday on the 2nd.

KRIS
Ninety years ago, on November 2nd, 1917, the 100 inch telescope opened for business.

RACHEL
Astronomers call it first light when a telescope views the stars for the first time.

KRIS
Mount Wilson Observatory is located in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena.

RACHEL
It’s over one mile high and visible from most of Los Angeles.

KRIS
When it opened, the 100 inch telescope was the largest in the world.

RACHEL
The 100 inch telescope let astronomers discovered that the sun is not at the center of the universe.

KRIS
Astronomers discovered that there were countless other galaxies or island universes as they first called them.

RACHEL
Astronomers were even more surprised to learn that these island universes were receding away from the earth. Almost as if our planet had made a serious social blunder.

KRIS
You can visit the observatory from April to November.

RACHEL
You’ll find a museum and picnic tables on the observatory grounds.

KRIS
There’s more information at www.mtwilson.edu.

PAUL
A weak meteor shower reaches its peak on the morning of the 3rd.

RACHEL
The moon will be a thin crescent, so its light will hardly interfere with the meteors.

KRIS
But the shower is still weak. On average, only seven meteors per hour are seen from the Taurids.

RACHEL
That’s the same number of meteors you can expect to see on nights when there is no shower.

PAUL
Guess what happened 50 years ago on November 3rd.

KRIS
Wait, Sputnik 2 was launched into orbit.

PAUL
That’s right. What made Sputnik 2 unique?

RACHEL
Sputnik 2 had a passenger, a dog named Laika.

KRIS
The Soviet Union, flush with the success of Sputnik 1, wanted another space spectacular to impress the world.

RACHEL
So a stray dog from the streets of Moscow became the first living being to enter into space.

KRIS
Unfortunately, Laika paid for being the first animal in space.

PAUL
Soviet engineers had too little time to design a well functioning capsule for Laika.

RACHEL
After entering orbit, Laika’s thermal protection failed to work properly.

KRIS
Within seven hours her cabin rose too high and Laika died from the heat and stress.

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

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.

Transcript: October Week 4

2007-11-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the 40th anniversary of the first two spacecraft to visit another planet.

RACHEL
The first spacecraft to arrive alive to another planet was Venera 4.

KRIS
The Russians launched other previous Venera spacecraft, but they all stopped functioning before reaching their target, Venus.

RACHEL
On the October 18th, 1967, Venera 4 entered the Venusian atmosphere and transmitted data until it was 15-1/2 miles above the surface.

KRIS
At this altitude, the high atmospheric temperatures and pressures that Venera 4 measured destroyed the 840 pound probe.

RACHEL
Before Venus cooked and crushed it, Venera 4 returned data on the composition, temperature, and pressure of the Venusian atmosphere.

PAUL
The next day, the American Mariner 5 arrived at Venus.

KRIS
Mariner 5 was a converted Mars flyby probe and it passed 2,500 miles from Venus.

RACHEL
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed the Mariner 5 as a flyby spacecraft and not as an atmospheric probe. So it didn’t enter the Venusian atmosphere like Venera 4.

KRIS
During its flyby, Mariner 5 measured the radiation and magnetic fields of Venus.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 25th.

RACHEL
The full moon in November is often called the Hunter’s Moon.

KRIS
What makes this year’s Hunter’s moon special is that it’s the same day that the moon’s at perigee.

RACHEL
Its closeness to Earth makes this year’s Hunter’s Moon the largest full moon of 2007.

KRIS
Because the moon is full, it’s opposite the sun in the sky.

RACHEL
That means the Sun’s gravity combines with the Moon’s gravity to create larger than average tides.

KRIS
However, because this full moon is closer to Earth than most full moons, its tidal forces are even greater.

RACHEL
So coastal dwellers can expect to see larger than average tides today.

PAUL
Just as it’s getting dark on the 27th, look for the nearly full moon in the east.

KRIS
There to its right will be the Pleiades star cluster, or Seven Sisters.

RACHEL
The moon’s light will wash out some of its stars, but it should still be nice to see in binoculars.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of October. Join us next week for the anniversary for the 100 inch telescope in Los Angeles and Sputnik 2.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: October Week 3

2007-10-12T21:03:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Once upon a time, we only knew of four terrestrial planets, the asteroid belt, four gas giants, oddball Pluto, and a hidden reservoir of comets.

KRIS
Well, 30 years ago on October 18, 1977 the American astronomer Charles Kowal changed that.

RACHEL
He announced the discovery of a celestial body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus.

KRIS
Kowal proposed that his newly discovered object be named Chiron.

RACHEL
Later, astronomers discovered other objects like Chiron between the orbits of Saturn and Neptune.

KRIS
These objects, call Centaurs, are icy bodies and they’re in unstable orbits.

RACHEL
In time, the gas giants will either eject the Centaurs into the depths of the solar system or into the inner solar system.

KRIS
Because their orbits are unstable, they could not have originated in this region of the solar system.

RACHEL
Most likely then, they’re refugees from the Kuiper Belt.

KRIS
Chiron measures 120 miles across, or ten times larger than the nucleus of comet Halley.

RACHEL
Its size means Chiron will become a fantastically large and bright comet if it’s sent into the inner solar system.

PAUL
Yeah!

KRIS
On the other hand, it could also be a very dangerous object should it be sent on a collision course with earth.

PAUL
Rats.

RACHEL
But have no worry. Over the length of a human life time, the Centaurs pose no risk to Earth.

PAUL
From the 20th until early November, the Zodiacal Light is visible an hour of more before sun rise.

KRIS
Since the moon is at first quarter, it sets well before morning so its light doesn’t interfere with the faint Zodiacal Light.

RACHEL
Autumn mornings are good times to look for this light. The interplanetary dust that creates the Zodiacal Light tilts at its greatest vertical angle when viewed from Earth’s northern hemisphere.

KRIS
That steep angle lets if rise is highest above the eastern horizon.

PAUL
While observing the Zodiacal Light, be on the look out for the Orionid meteor shower.

RACHEL
It peaks on the night of the 20th and morning of the 21st.

KRIS
Typically 20 meteors per hour are visible from this shower.

RACHEL
The best time to watch it is after the moon sets at 2:20 AM.

KRIS
Meteoroids in the Orionid meteor shower have an orbit similar to another meteor shower, the Eta Aquarids which peak in May.

RACHEL
That’s because both meteor showers are debris from the tail of comet Halley.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of October. Next week our show will discuss the first spacecraft to visit another planet and the extra large Hunter’s moon.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.

Transcript: October Week 2

2007-10-12T21:01:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the 50th anniversary of the Space Age.

RACHEL
It all began with the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union.

KRIS
Sputnik 1 was a polished aluminum sphere two foot diameter.

RACHEL
It contained batteries, two radio transmitters, and four antennas.

KRIS
Sputnik’s two radio frequencies of 20 and 40 MHz were selected so amateur radio operators around the world to hear the satellite’s beep-beep.

PAUL
Sputnik 1 was a surprisingly heavy satellite with a weight of 184 pounds.

RACHEL
The Soviets launched it with an R-7 ICBM.

KRIS
The R-7 missile put Sputnik 1 into a 134 by 583 mile orbit.

RACHEL
Sputnik 1 remained in orbit for three months until atmospheric drag brought it down on January 4, 1958.

KRIS
The successful launch of Sputnik 1 ignited the space race between the Soviet Union and United States.

RACHEL
It was a race that lead to Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon’s surface less than 12 years later.

PAUL
The first person to launch a liquid fueled rocket was born 125 years ago, last week.

KRIS
Beginning in 1907, Robert Goddard experimented with rocket propulsion.

RACHEL
To achieve altitudes higher than those current possible, Goddard realized that a liquid fueled rocket, with its higher energy and speed, was needed.

PAUL
His experiments led to the first liquid fueled rocket launch on March 16, 1926.

KRIS
The location was his aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts.

RACHEL
From Goddard’s humble rocket, the Germans developed the V-2 missile and the Soviets developed the R-7 ICBM.

PAUL
The Outer Space Treaty was ratified 40 years ago on the 10th.

KRIS
The treaty’s goal is to promote the peaceful use and exploration of outer space.

PAUL
To that end, it requires countries to do several things, like…..

RACHEL
Explain the nature of their space exploration.

KRIS
Protect earth and celestial bodies from contamination.

RACHEL
Render assistance to astronauts in need.

KRIS
And not deploy nuclear weapons in space and on other celestial bodies.

RACHEL
Countries with missile delivered nuclear weapons…

PAUL
Like the United States and Soviet Union.

RACHEL
…get around the Outer Space Treaty by flying their nuclear weapons on ballistic trajectories that never enter into earth orbit.

KRIS
Oh well, the treaty is still a good start.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of October. The discovery of the first Centaur, the Zodiacal light, and a meteor shower are our topics next week.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: October Week 1

2007-09-30T15:33:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is at last quarter the morning of the 3rd.

KRIS
If you like seeing the greatest amount of surface detail visible on the moon, than this is one of the best lunar phases.

RACHEL
That’s because the sun is just rising over the center of the moon. And since sunrise appears at the moon’s center, the shadows are stretched their longest distance from earth’s perspective.

KRIS
Long shadows accentuate even small terrain changes. This makes the smallest features visible.

PAUL
But there’s one feature that’s not small on the moon and the sun is just beginning to set over it.

RACHEL
That’s the 16,000 foot tall lunar Apennine mountain range. They form a quarter of an arc just to the left center of the moon.

KRIS
This mountain range formed 3 point 8 billion years ago when a large planetesimal impacted the moon.

RACHEL
The explosive energy of the impact lifted blocks of lunar crust over three miles above the surface.

PAUL
If it wasn’t for the space age, we would know a lot less about this mountain range. And the space age began 50 years ago on the 4th.

KRIS
The year was 1957 and the International Geophysical Year, or IGY, was just beginning.

RACHEL
IGY was an 18 month period where nations of the world agreed to explore the earth and share their findings.

KRIS
Two years earlier, both the United States and the Soviet Union stated their plans to launch a satellite into orbit during the upcoming IGY.

PAUL
However, not many people took the Soviet Union’s claim seriously.

RACHEL
That’s because they considered the Soviet Union to be a backwards country with little technical skill.

KRIS
So on October 4th 1957, the Soviet Union shook the world with the news of the launch of Sputnik.

RACHEL
We’ll have more on Sputnik 1 on next week’s show.

PAUL
The moon passes within one degree of the Beehive star cluster on the morning of the 5th.

KRIS
This is a perfect event for your binoculars. So on the morning of the 5th, point your binoculars at the thin crescent moon.

RACHEL
To its right you’ll see a scattering of stars covering an area larger than the moon.

KRIS
Since the moon is a crescent, its light shouldn’t interfere greatly with the faint stars making up the Beehive star cluster.

PAUL
There’s another lunar line up on the 7th before sunrise.

RACHEL
You’ll see Saturn, a thin crescent moon, the star Regulus, and brilliant Venus.

KRIS
And all four will fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of October. Join us next week to hear more about Sputnik 1. We’ll also have information on Robert Goddard and the Outer Space Treaty.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: September Week 4

2007-09-30T15:32:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Now that the moon is no longer in the morning skies, you’ll have a good view of the Zodiacal Light.

KRIS
But this only lasts until early October when the moon begins to appear in the morning sky again.

RACHEL
To see this band of dust in orbit around the sun, go outside no later than about 5:30 AM.

KRIS
You’re looking for a faint triangular glow of light rising from the east.

RACHEL
The glow in dark skies looks like the light of dawn.

KRIS
But where the dawn is a glow along the horizon, the Zodiacal Light is a vertical pillar of light.

RACHEL
In dark skies this pillar can be seen reaching half way up to the zenith.

PAUL
Autumn begins on the 23rd at 3:51 AM.

KRIS
The Autumnal Equinox is the name given to the point on earth’s orbit where the sun appears to rise exactly in the east and set exactly in the west for everyone on earth.

RACHEL
This is always true for people living along the equator. But it’s only true for everyone else on one of our two equinoxes.

KRIS
The day is exactly 12 hours long on the equinox. That is if you ignore refraction by the earth’s atmosphere.

RACHEL
For us in the northern hemisphere, autumn begins today. In the southern hemisphere spring is just beginning.

PAUL
Venus is at it’s brightest on the morning of the 24th.

KRIS
In astronomical terminology, its brightness is a magnitude negative 4.5.

RACHEL
Venus is 2-1/2 magnitudes brighter than the next brightest object, Jupiter and 3 magnitudes brighter than Sirius, the brightest true star.

KRIS
The magnitude scale is a logarithmic scale that is based on how our eyes perceive brightness.

PAUL
That makes every magnitude about 2-1/2 times brighter then the next.

RACHEL
The faintest stars we can see without a telescope are magnitude 6. So the smaller the magnitude, the brighter the star.

KRIS
The magnitude scale was designed by the ancient Greeks. Although they didn’t realize it, they were designing a logarithmic scale.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 26th.

RACHEL
Since this is the first full moon after the Autumnal equinox, this month’s full moon is the Harvest Moon.

PAUL
Shine on, shine on harvest moon.

KRIS
Um, please don’t.

RACHEL
Speaking of the moon, go outside shortly before dawn begins on the 30th and look for it.

KRIS
You’ll see a gibbous moon near the Pleiades for the second time this month.

RACHEL
And like last time, this is best seen in binoculars.

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

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.
Our sound engineer this month was Paul Marinari.

Transcript: September Week 1

2007-09-05T20:10:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The nearly third quarter moon appears next to the Pleiades on the morning of the 3rd.

RACHEL
This will be a pretty sight for your binoculars or rich field telescope.

PAUL
What’s a rich field telescope?

KRIS
That’s a telescope designed for low magnification and wide fields of view.

PAUL
Low magnification? But I thought telescopes were better if they have high magnifications?

RACHEL
Not necessarily. Magnification is not the most important characteristic of a telescope.

KRIS
In fact, if a telescope is advertised primarily as having high magnification, then it may not be a good quality telescope at all.

RACHEL
A good rule of thumb is that a telescope’s magnification should never be greater than 60 times the diameter of its objective in inches.

KRIS
So that means if a telescope’s main lens or mirror has a diameter of four inches, then it should never have a magnification greater than 60 times that, or 240 power.

RACHEL
Note that the highest magnification rule of thumb only applies to quality optics and ideal skies.

KRIS
So if the mirror or lens is not the most carefully shaped or if the air is turbulent, the telescope’s magnification should be lower still.

PAUL
So I should use my binoculars or rich field telescope to see the Pleiades and moon together on the morning of the 3rd.

RACHEL
That’s right. You can also try using a spotting scope if you have one.

PAUL
The Phoenix lander is on its way to Mars and you can see its target tonight.

KRIS
It’s easy if you let the moon be your guide. The solar system’s fourth planet is to the lower right of the moon on the morning of the 4th.

RACHEL
Their distance apart is 5 degrees, or roughly the width of three fingers when your arm is extended.

KRIS
Mars will appear as a pale orange colored star.

RACHEL
Mars is still too small to be viewed well in telescopes. But earth is rapidly catching up to the planet. By the end of the year Mars will be a bright beacon in the sky.

KRIS
But don’t be mislead by what you may be reading on the Internet. Mars will not grow as large as the full moon in our sky.

RACHEL
In fact, Mars can never get that large. However, Mars will become large enough to show some surface features in an amateur telescope.

KRIS
But to the unaided eye or in a pair of binoculars, it will remain a tiny point of light.

RACHEL
To see some of the surface features of Mars, plan to attend one of the Boise Astronomical Society’s star parties.

KRIS
You’ll find them listed on the Idaho Skies website, idahoskies.org.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of September. Join us next week to hear about Surveyor 5 and the discovery of the fifth Jovian satellite.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: August Week 5

2007-08-28T19:48:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week we’re recording at Bruneau Dunes State Park

AUDIENCE
CHEERS

The first American spacecraft to visit another planet was launched on August 27, 1962.

KRIS
That spacecraft, Mariner 2, was a back up for Mariner 1.

RACHEL
And that was a good thing. Soon after launch, the booster rocket for Mariner 1 began to veer off course and had to be destroyed.

KRIS
Mariner 2 weighed 444 pounds, stood 10 feet tall, and was 16 feet wide across its solar array.

PAUL
For unknown reasons one of the arrays failed on its approach to its target, Venus.

RACHEL
Fortunately sunlight is more intense near Venus. So its one remaining solar array generated enough electricity for the spacecraft.

KRIS
After a 3-1/2 month flight, Mariner 2 passed nearly 22 thousand miles from Venus.

RACHEL
Mariner 2 was a flyby spacecraft. So it didn’t land on or go into orbit around Venus.

KRIS
The spacecraft collected data on the atmosphere, radiation, and magnetic field of Venus.

RACHEL
Mariner 2 confirmed that Venus was one hot planet. It also discovered that Venus had no magnetic field or trapped belts of radiation.

KRIS
Mariner 2 continued to explore the interplanetary medium until it failed on January 3, 1963.

RACHEL
Mariner 2 is still out there, flying circles around the sun.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 28th.

KRIS
What makes this full moon so great is that is passes nearly though the center of earth’s shadow.

RACHEL
In other words, we’re going to see a total lunar eclipse this month.

KRIS
The moon will begin to darken around 2:30 AM on the 28th.

RACHEL
The maximum eclipse occurs at 4:30 and it ends at 6:30 AM.

PAUL
The moon could glow a brilliant coppery orange at maximum eclipse.

KRIS
Or if the earth’s atmosphere is too cloudy or hazy, the full moon could turn dark charcoal gray and nearly fade from sight.

RACHEL
If you have a telephoto lens, cable release, and a camera tripod, you should try photographing the eclipse.

KRIS
You’ll need to bracket your exposures. So take several pictures with different exposure settings.

RACHEL
Photographing an eclipse is not a time to be efficient with film. So get lots of exposures and change the settings and focus each time.

PAUL
The solar system got a whole lot bigger 15 years ago on the 30th.

KRIS
It was on August 30, 1992 that David Jewitt and Jane Luu discovered the first Kuiper Belt Object.

RACHEL
Object 1992 QB1 orbits the sun at almost twice the distance of Pluto.

KRIS
At such a great distance, a year on QB1 is 290 years long.

RACHEL
Kuiper Belt Objects like QB1 where ejected into the deep freeze of our solar system by the giant gas planets during the formation of the solar system.

PAUL
And there they remain until their orbits are perturbed by gravity or a collision.

KRIS
If a Kuiper Belt Object is ejected into the inner solar system it will become a comet as the sun melts it away.

RACHEL
It turns out though that QB1 was not the first Kuiper Belt Object to be discovered.

KRIS
That honor goes to Pluto which was discovered in 1930.

RACHEL
By the way, astronomers estimate that QB1 is only 100 miles across.

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

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Our sound engineer this month was Paul Molinari.

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

AUDIENCE
Dark skies and bright stars.

PAUL
Now here’s Bob Niemeyer to tell us about the Bruneau Dunes State Park.

BOB
Bruneau Dunes Observatory offers the opportunity for the general public to view the heavens through Idaho’s largest astronomical telescope. We’re open every Friday and Saturday night from March through November. Call the park at 366-7919 for times as they vary with sunset. We hope to see you here.

Transcript: August Week 4

2007-08-20T13:46:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon reaches the perfect phase, first quarter, on the 20th.

RACHEL
It’s a great time to go moon watching with your telescope or binoculars.

KRIS
You’ll see the most lunar detail if you look along the boundary between day and night.

RACHEL
Astronomers call that boundary the terminator.

KRIS
At the terminator the shadows are long because the sun is just beginning to rise.

PAUL
Hey! I’m looking at the moon now and I see little points of light just inside the dark of the moon!

RACHEL
Those pin points of light are mountain peaks.

KRIS
These mountain tops are so high that the sun is beginning to rise over them while the mountain bottom is still in darkness.

PAUL
The moon and Antares put on a show on the night of the 21st.

RACHEL
Look low in the south and you’ll find the red giant star Antares two degrees to the upper right of the moon.

KRIS
Even higher is the more brilliant planet Jupiter.

RACHEL
All three should just fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

KRIS
Look carefully at Jupiter with your binoculars and you may see tiny stars next to the planet.

PAUL
You’ll certainly see them in a small telescope with a magnification as small as 15 power.

RACHEL
Remember that last week marked the 130th anniversary of the discovery of the satellites of Mars.

KRIS
Well the four Jovian satellites you can see were discovered 268 years earlier in 1609.

RACHEL
Their discoverer was none other than Galileo.

PAUL
Didn’t Galileo invent the telescope?

KRIS
Actually the telescope’s inventor was either Zacharias Janssen or Hans Lippershey.

RACHEL
However Galileo was one of the first people to turn the newly invented telescopes to the heavens.

KRIS
And he was the first to write about his discoveries and their implications.

RACHEL
For instance, he discovered that the Milky Way was not a cloud but actually an uncountable number of faint stars.

KRIS
Galileo’s discovery of satellites in orbit around Jupiter showed that satellites could orbit another planet without being left behind as the planet orbited the earth or sun.

RACHEL
He saw that Venus ran through an entire sequence of phases. And that was proof that Venus orbited the sun and not the earth as was believed by most astronomers at the time.

KRIS
Speaking of Venus, it’s one of our topics next week.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of August. Next week we’ll tell you about the great total eclipse in store for Idaho.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: August Week 3

2007-08-20T13:44:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Remember Vostok 3 from last week?

KRIS
Well Vostok 4 was launched one day later on August 12th 1962.

RACHEL
Ukrainian cosmonaut Popovich was onboard Vostok 4.

KRIS
After his close passage to Vostok 3, Popovich went on to make earth observations.

PAUL
One of those observations was of thunderstorms in the Gulf of Mexico.

RACHEL
Like a careful observer, Popovich reported his observation to the ground.

KRIS
And ground control mistook his communication as a request to return to earth because of space sickness.

RACHEL
You see, the second cosmonaut, Titov, suffered from severe space sickness on his flight.

KRIS
To prevent the United States from discovering this fact, Popovich was given the code word, “observing thunderstorms” to mean I’m suffering from space sickness and need to return to earth ASAP.

RACHEL
Popovich only stayed in orbit for three days before ground control brought him back for his space sickness.

KRIS
His Vostok 4 returned to earth a few minutes after Vostok 3.

PAUL
The second moon of Mars was discovered by Asaph Hall 130 years ago on the 17th.

RACHEL
That was six days after his discovery of Deimos, the first discovered moon of Mars.

KRIS
This larger and innermost moon of Mars is named Phobos which means fear.

PAUL
The two satellites of Mars are captured asteroids. So they did not form together with Mars.

RACHEL
Both have been battered over time and are no longer spherical in shape. Not only are they battered, they’re also tiny.

KRIS
Phobos measures eight miles across at its widest and Deimos only five.

RACHEL
Phobos is so close to Mars that it orbits the planet in just a third of a day.

KRIS
That’s so quick that Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east. Or backwards from our own moon.

RACHEL
Phobos orbits closer to Mars than any other natural satellite orbits its planet.

KRIS
Because of this, it’s been suggested that Phobos would make a great outpost for astronauts going to and leaving Mars.

RACHEL
But going for a walk on Phobos could be difficult.

KRIS
With very little surface gravity, it will be nearly impossible to get enough traction on its surface to stand up and walk.

RACHEL
Also its surface is coated in a layer of dust over 300 feet thick.

KRIS
Because of the satellite’s irregular shape and the tidal forces of Mars, the surface gravity on Phobos can vary by 400%!

RACHEL
In other words, you would be four times heavier at some places of Phobos than on others.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of August.
Join us next week to hear about mountains above the lunar terminator and Galileo’s use of the telescope.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS.. and Kris.

Transcript: August Week 3

2007-08-12T16:32:00.000-06:00

Transcript: August Week 2

2007-08-12T16:31:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Southern Iota Aquarid meteor shower peaks on the night of the 6th and morning of the 7th.

RACHEL
Normally around 8 meteors per hour are visible from this shower.

KRIS
But there’s a problem this year and it’s the moon.

RACHEL
That’s right. The moon is at third quarter and it won’t set until around sunrise. So its light will interfere with your meteor watching.

KRIS
But have no fear, there’s another shower just around the corner.

PAUL
The third Russian cosmonaut, Nikolayev, was blasted into earth orbit 45 years ago on the 11th.

RACHEL
His spacecraft was named Vostok 3.

PAUL
What makes this flight so special?

KRIS
It’s significant because the next day Vostok 4 was launched.

RACHEL
And this marks the first time that more than one human was in space at the same time.

KRIS
The flight was a propaganda victory for the Soviet Union, but it was not the rendezvous that the Soviets made it out to be.

RACHEL
The Vostok space capsules could not change their orbits. So Vostok 3 and 4 just flew past one another.

KRIS
But their launches were accurate enough for the two spacecraft to pass within three miles of each other.

RACHEL
And that’s close enough that the cosmonauts talked to each other over their radios.

KRIS
Vostok 3 returned to earth on August 15, 1962 after spending four days n orbit.

PAUL
The first satellite of Mars was discovered 130 years ago on the 11th.

RACHEL
Astronomer Asaph Hall was using the US Naval Observatory’s 26 inch telescope in 1877 when he found a tiny spark of light near Mars.

KRIS
The moon he discovered was named Deimos and it is the outermost and tiniest Martian satellite.

RACHEL
Deimos is one of the sons of the Greek god of war and his name means terror.

PAUL
Finally, a great meteor shower!

KRIS
The year’s best meteor shower takes place on the night of the 11th and morning of the 12th.

RACHEL
The Perseids are a very dependable shower with many bright meteors. And since it occurs on warm August nights, it’s the ideal meteor shower to watch.

KRIS
Best of all, the moon is close to new on the 11th and 12th.

RACHEL
Therefore there’s no moonlight to interfere with your observations.

KRIS
So lie out on a lawn chair after midnight and look straight up.

RACHEL
Perseids will be the meteors that appear to originate from the northwest.

KRIS
But closer to morning this point of origin, which astronomers called the radiant, will be almost overhead.

RACHEL
Good meteor watching.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of August. Next week we’ll talk about the space flight of Vostok 4 and the fear that’s in orbit around Mars.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: August Week 1

2007-08-12T16:30:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The Alpha Capricornid meteor shower peaks on the morning of the 2nd.

KRIS
Unfortunately the moon was recently full, so its bright light will wash out many of the meteors we can see from this shower.

RACHEL
But have no fear; we’ll have a far better meteor shower next weekend.

PAUL
Forty years ago on the 2nd the last Lunar Orbiter spacecraft was launched.

KRIS
To prepare for the upcoming moon landings, NASA first needed to locate some promising landing zones for the astronauts.

RACHEL
To find these safe and promising sites they launched spy satellites to the moon, the Lunar Orbiters.

KRIS
There were five Lunar Orbiter missions and every one of them was successful.

RACHEL
Along with taking pictures, the Lunar Orbiters measured radiation and micrometeoroids near the moon.

KRIS
The 850 pound Lunar Orbiter 5 took over 800 pictures of the lunar surface. In some pictures objects as small as six feet were visible.

PAUL
Let’s go from the moon to Mars. If the weather cooperates, the next Mars mission will leave earth this Friday the third.

RACHEL
It’s called the Phoenix lander and it was built by the University of Arizona.

KRIS
Phoenix is targeted for a landing at the Martian North Polar Region.

RACHEL
There it will study the history of water on the Martian surface and its ability to support life on the red planet.

PAUL
Why did the University of Arizona name this lander Phoenix?

KRIS
Perhaps it’s because Phoenix is the capital of Arizona.

RACHEL
That’s not the reason. It’s named Phoenix because it was built from spares from the last lander targeted for the Martian artic.

KRIS
That lander appears to have had a design flaw that shut off its rocket engines before it had a chance to touchdown.

RACHEL
When sensors detected the snap of its landing legs deploying, the shock triggered the spacecraft computer into thinking it had landed.

KRIS
And that told its computer to shut down its landing rockets.

RACHEL
Once Phoenix lands, it will use its robotic arm to dig up and analyze samples of frozen Martian soil.

KRIS
You can read more about Phoenix at its website, phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

PAUL
On the morning of the 7th Mars and the Pleiades are close enough to be seen at the same time in a pair of binoculars.

RACHEL
This will be an attractive site that’s best seen around 4:00 AM. So you’ll need to get up early.

KRIS
Actually you’ll see three celestial objects together. There’s the Pleiades at the top, the moon to the left, and Mars to the right.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of August. Join us next week to hear about Vostok 3 and the discovery of the first Martian Satellite.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: July Week 4

2007-07-18T13:24:00.002-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

FADE OUT MUSIC

PAUL
Last week marked the 35th anniversary of the launch of Landsat 1 into earth orbit.

KRIS
Landsat was a weather satellite modified to take detailed and informative images of the earth’s surface.

RACHEL
It’s images contained information on earthly resources like the oceans and rivers, forests, minerals, and weather.

KRIS
Landsat 1 could do this because its cameras recorded images in both the visible and infrared portions of the spectrum.

PAUL
Landsat 1 was placed into a nearly polar orbit.

RACHEL
That way most of the earth’s surface passed below its cameras at some time.

KRIS
Before being switched off in 1978, Landsat 1 discovered an island off the eastern coast of Canada.

RACHEL
That was the only island discovered by satellite and its now named Landsat Island in honor of its discoverer.

PAUL
The moon and Antares form a nice pair on the night of the 25th.

KRIS
Antares is the alpha star of Scorpius and it’s 600 light years away.

RACHEL
So the light of Antares you see tonight left the star in 1407.

KRIS
That’s nearly a century before Columbus left for the Americas.

PAUL
Say, what’s that brighter star above Antares?

RACHEL
Why it’s Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet.

KRIS
Jupiter is only half a billion miles away. So the light you see from Jupiter left only 40 minutes ago.

PAUL
Early on the morning of the 29th the South Delta-Aquarids meteor shower reaches it peak.

RACHEL
Normally we would expect to see around 20 meteors per hour from this shower.

PAUL
But there are two strikes against it this year.

KRIS
First, the shower’s meteors appear low with respect to the horizon.

RACHEL
This means the shower is best seen from the southern United States or better still, south of the equator.

KRIS
That’s not good news for Idaho. So what’s the second strike?

RACHEL
The second strike is that this year the moon is nearly full at the shower’s peak.

KRIS
Oh. So by the time the moon sets, dawn will be beginning.

RACHEL
Therefore the skies will never get dark for this shower.

KRIS
Oh well, there’s always next year.

PAUL
The moon is full on the 29th at 6:48 PM.

RACHEL
The full moon in July is often called the Thunder Moon.

FADE IN MUSIC

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of July. 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 Molinari.

Transcript: July Week 3

2007-07-18T13:24:00.001-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

FADE OUT MUSIC

PAUL
On the 16th the moon forms a small grouping with Venus, Saturn, and Regulus.

RACHEL
The grouping is so small that all four objects will just fit within the field of view of your binoculars.

KRIS
So take your binoculars outside shortly before 10:15 PM. This astronomical grouping will be low in the west-northwest and set by 11:00 PM.

RACHEL
Unfortunately this also means the skies will still be lit by twilight, cutting down on their contrast.

KRIS
In binoculars you’ll see bight Venus to the left, Regulus to the upper right of Venus, a thin crescent moon to the right, and Saturn just past the moon.

PAUL
On the 20th Mercury reaches greatest western elongation.

RACHEL
Greatest elongations are generally the best times to see inferior planets because that’s when they’re at their greatest distance from the sun.

KRIS
But this month’s greatest elongation is not the best because Mercury still remains close to the horizon.

RACHEL
If you want to see Mercury, then look for a star low in the east northeast at around 5:45 AM.

PAUL
The moon passes close to Spica, the lucida of Virgo, on the evening of the 21st.

KRIS
Spica will be four degrees or eight lunar diameters from the moon’s right.

RACHEL
To your eye Spica may not look very impressive, but remember that you’re seeing a star that’s 260 light years away.

KRIS
To appear as bright as it does from earth, Spica must be two thousand times brighter than the sun.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 22nd.

RACHEL
Since the moon is half full, tonight would be a great time to look at the moon through your telescope or binoculars.

KRIS
You’ll see the greatest detail if you look along the straight edged boundary between day and night with a telescope or pair of binoculars.

PAUL
Less than three hours after the moon reaches the first quarter phase, it also reaches the apogee of its orbit around the earth.

RACHEL
So at 3:00 AM on the 22nd the center of the moon is only 251 thousand miles away from the center of the earth.

PAUL
Thirty-five years ago on the 22nd the Soviet Venera 8 made the second successful spacecraft landing on Venus.

KRIS
Venera 8 was launched along with its twin, Venera 7, back in 1972.

RACHEL
The previous Venera spacecraft that Russia sent to Venus were crushed by its atmosphere before they could land.

KRIS
To give the Venera 7 and 8 alive long enough to report from the Venusian surface, they were built stronger that the previous Veneras and they also carried a refrigerator.

RACHEL
Venera 8 managed to survive for 50 minutes on the surface of Venus.

KRIS
It reported that the lighting conditions on the surface were similar to an overcast day on earth.

RACHEL
It also reported that the surface temperature was a toasty 900 degrees and that the air pressure 90 times greater than on earth.

KRIS
Even with its stronger construction and cooling, Venera 8 eventually failed due to the combined effects of the Venusian heat and pressure.

FADE IN MUSIC

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of July.
Join us next week to hear about Landsat 1 and a close grouping between Jupiter and Antares.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: July Week 2

2007-07-18T13:22:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Would you like to know where Mars is located?

KRIS
Then look for the moon.

RACHEL
Between 3:00 AM and dawn on the 9th the crescent moon is visible in the low east.

KRIS
Mars is five degrees to the lower right of the moon and will appear as a pale yellowish star.

RACHEL
An angle of five degrees is equal to the width of ten full moons or about the width of three fingers on your outstretched hand.

PAUL
Do you remember Telstar 1?

KRIS
Telstar 1 was the first active communication satellite and it was launched 45 years ago on the 10th.

PAUL
Active? What does that mean?

RACHEL
Active communication satellites are ones that retransmit radio signals sent to them.

KRIS
This allows the them to amplify the radio signal before sending back to earth.

RACHEL
The satellite’s stronger radio signal means that a smaller antenna can be used to hear the signal.

PAUL
Now Telstar 1 was not the first communication satellite, as I recall.

KRIS
You remember right. Some of our listeners may remember two earlier communication satellites named Echo 1 and Echo 2.

RACHEL
These satellites were reflective balloons that bounced radio signals back to earth.

KRIS
Since they didn’t amplify radio signals they’re called passive communication satellites.

RACHEL
The Echo satellites were forty feet in diameter after they filled with air.

KRIS
They were also covered in a thin layer of aluminum to make them reflective to radio waves.

RACHEL
That also made them very bright and easy to see at night.

PAUL
The moon passes close to the Pleiades on the morning of the 10th.

KRIS
At around 4:00 AM you’ll find the Pleiades five and a half degrees to lower left of moon.

RACHEL
Five and a half degrees may sound like a lot, but that’s about the same as the angular distance between the Pointer Stars in the Big Dipper.

KRIS
This event is best observed in a pair of binoculars.

RACHEL
But don’t use a telescope. That’s because your telescope will have too small of a field of view to see both the Pleiades and the moon at the same time.

PAUL
Venus reaches greatest brilliance on the night of the 12th.

KRIS
As Venus passes between us and the sun, its gets larger and brighter.

RACHEL
But at the same time it’s becoming a thinner crescent and therefore fainter.

KRIS
Greatest brilliance occurs when the thinnest and largeness of Venus reaches a balance.

PAUL
What’s that star less than two degrees above Venus?

RACHEL
That’s the star Regulus. It’s the lucida of Leo the Lion.

PAUL
Can we throw a planet into that mix?

KRIS
Sure. Saturn will also be six degrees to the right of Venus.

RACHEL
However, since it is summer and the sun sets late, we won’t be able to see this alignment in very dark skies.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of July. Next week there’s an attractive grouping between planets, the moon, and a star and the anniversary of the first two successful landings on Venus.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL.. and Rachel.

Transcript: July Week 1

2007-06-28T12:23:00.000-06:00

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
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

2007-06-28T12:22:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-17T09:40:00.000-06:00

Transcript: June Week 2

2007-06-11T09:31:00.000-06:00

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
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.

Transcript: May Week 5

2007-05-30T18:05:00.000-06:00

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
The moon is full a second time this month on the 31st at 7:00 PM.

RACHEL
Today we call a second full moon of the month a blue moon.

KRIS
Historically that was not always the case.

RACHEL
That’s right. Due to an error in Sky and Telescope magazine, the definition of Blue Moon was changed.

PAUL
On average there are twelve full moons per year.

RACHEL
That comes out to three full moons per season.

KRIS
So winter had three full moons, as did spring, summer, and autumn.

RACHEL
Each full moon had its own name. So we find full moons with names like, The Moon Before Yule and The Moon After Yule.

KRIS
But what happens where there are 13 full moons in a year.

RACHEL
Well, one of the seasons will have four full moons.

PAUL
Doesn’t that extra full moon throw off the naming scheme?

KRIS
Yes it does. But instead of changing the names of the full moons, the third full moon of a season was called a blue moon.

RACHEL
That leaves the first two and last full moons of the season with the same name.

KRIS
Did you know that every 19 years there are two blue moons?

RACHEL
That’s true if you use the modern definition of blue moon.

KRIS
That last time that happened was 1999.

RACHEL
So we’ll have to wait until 2018 for that to happen again.

KRIS
The double blue moons will occur in January and March.

PAUL
Speaking of the moon, it’s between Jupiter and Antares the night of the 31st.

RACHEL
They’ll rise shortly after ten PM. So you’ll want to wait until after eleven PM to look for them.

KRIS
Jupiter is the bright star to the moon’s upper left

RACHEL
Antares is the fainter star to the moon’s upper right.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of May. 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.

Transcript: May Week 4

2007-05-22T16:48:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 23rd at two PM

KRIS
Remember that the first quarter moon is the best moon for observing its craters and mountains.

RACHEL
So even if you only have a small telescope, get it out and invite your neighbors to look at the moon.

PAUL
The fourth Mercury astronaut lifted off 45 years ago on the 24th.

KRIS
Scott Carpenter was launched into a 5 hour mission that took him three times around the earth.

RACHEL
Carpenter’s spacecraft was named Aurora 7.

KRIS
And he was the second American to orbit the earth.

PAUL
Didn’t the United States launch three astronauts before Carpenter?

RACHEL
Yes, but the first two, Shepard and Grissom, were launched on suborbital hops. So they didn’t orbit the earth.

KRIS
Of the original Mercury astronauts, Carpenter was the one most interested in doing science.

PAUL
For instance, he identified John Glenn’s fireflies

RACHEL
The fireflies were sunlight reflecting off of ice floating off the Mercury space capsule.

KRIS
Due to problems with the Mercury capsule, and possibly mistakes made by Carpenter, his retro rockets fired late.

RACHEL
As a result, he landed 280 miles away from the planned recovery site.

KRIS
It took the aircraft carrier Intrepid 40 minutes to locate and recover Carpenter.

RACHEL
Carpenter never flew in space again. After his NASA career, he went into ocean research.

PAUL
The moon is at apogee on the 27th at four PM.

KRIS
Its greatest distance for this month is nearly 252 thousand miles.

RACHEL
According to the Info Please website, a rabbit runs at 35 mph.

KRIS
So Paul’s house rabbit Allie could run to the moon in just under ten months.

RACHEL
A snail on the other hand would take 281 years to crawl to the moon.

PAUL
Look for the waxing gibbous moon on the night of the 27th.

KRIS
Two degrees above the moon is a star.

RACHEL
It’s Spica, the brightest star of the constellation Virgo.

KRIS
Spica doesn’t look very bright. But that’s just an illusion.

RACHEL
Spica is 260 light years away. So to appear as bright as it does in our sky, Spica is actually 13 thousand times brighter than the sun.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of May. Join us next week to learn about the Blue Moon and Jupiter. Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: May Week 3

2007-05-14T20:44:00.000-06:00

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
On the 15th the moon reaches perigee, or it’s closest to earth for this month.

RACHEL
Its perigean distance this month is a mere 223 thousand miles.

KRIS
Which is just a stone’s throw in the solar system.

RACHEL
Why, the sun’s diameter is over four times larger than the distance between the earth and moon today.

KRIS
And the sun is just a tiny ball in the center of the solar system.

PAUL
Here’s a photographic opportunity for readers.

RACHEL
After it gets dark….

PAUL
That’s around 10:30 PM

RACHEL
CLEARS THROAT
…. look for the crescent moon in the west.

KRIS
Two lunar diameters below the moon is the Evening Star, Venus.

RACHEL
Both the moon and Venus are bright enough that a camera with telephoto lens can record them.

KRIS
You’ll need a tripod and cable release to take this picture.

RACHEL
The tripod holds the camera steady during its exposure

KRIS
And the cable release keeps your hand from shaking the camera when you press its shutter button.

PAUL
Don’t forget to set the focus of the telephoto lens to infinity

RACHEL
Or you’ll end up with blurry pictures

KRIS
It’s best to leave your lens wide open, or at its lowest f-stop. That way your camera will gather the greatest amount of light.

PAUL
How long should I set the exposure time?

RACHEL
You almost never know how long to keep the lens open during its exposure. So take several pictures with different exposure times.

SOUND OF CAMERA SHUTTER

KRIS
This is called bracketing your exposures.

PAUL
The moon will guide you to the Beehive star cluster on the evening of the 21st.

RACHEL
You’ll need to wait until it gets thoroughly dark, so wait until about eleven PM.

KRIS
You’ll find the large Beehive star cluster four degrees to the moon’s lower right.

RACHEL
The moon and Beehive are close enough that both objects will be visible through your binoculars at the same time.

KRIS
So put the moon in the upper right of your binoculars. Then you’ll see the Beehive near the center of the binoculars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of May. Join us next week to hear about the Moon, astronaut Scott Carpenter, and Spica. For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: May Week 1

2007-05-07T20:06:00.000-06:00

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: May Week 1

2007-04-30T16:22:00.000-06:00

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

2007-04-23T20:26:00.000-06:00

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
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

2007-04-16T16:35:00.000-06:00

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
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

2007-04-10T21:20:00.000-06:00

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
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

2007-04-03T17:59:00.000-06:00

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

2007-04-03T17:56:00.000-06:00

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
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'

Transcript: March Week 3

2007-03-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

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
Hip hip hooray, Spring beings on the 20th at 6 PM.

RACHEL
The point at which the sun crosses the equator from the southern hemisphere marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere.

KRIS
Astronomers call this point the Vernal Equinox.

RACHEL
In a world without an atmosphere the day and night are equal in length on the day of the equinox.

KRIS
But because of refraction through the atmosphere, the sun rises five minutes earlier and sets five minutes later.

RACHEL
From this day until the beginning of Autumn the days grow longer and the nights shorter.

PAUL
Be sure to look for the moon shortly before midnight on the 22nd.

KRIS
That’s because you’ll find the Pleiades close to the moon.

RACHEL
Most people know the Pleiades as the Seven Sisters.

KRIS
But astronomers call it M-45.

RACHEL
The Pleiades will be just half a degree from the crescent moon’s upper left on the night of the 22nd.

KRIS
Since the moon is a crescent and the Pleiades star cluster is on the dark part of the moon, the star cluster is less affected by moonlight.

RACHEL
So this should be a nice view for your binoculars.

PAUL
Wernher von Braun was born 95 years ago on the 23rd.

KRIS
Science fiction stories and the science writer Hermann Oberth created his intense interest in space flight when he was young.

RACHEL
Initially von Braun worked with a group of amateur rocket enthusiasts called the VfR.

PAUL
In German, VfR was the abbreviation for the Society for Space Travel.

KRIS
Due to the Versailles Treaty, Germany was prevented from developing large artillery.

RACHEL
So the German military acquired an interest in rocketry as a way to get around the limitations of the treaty.

KRIS
The German military provided funding to the VfR in the hopes that the civilian club would develop a successful rocket.

RACHEL
Eventually there was enough success that the German military changed the VfR to a military research program and put the young von Braun in charge of developing a missile with military use.

KRIS
During tests of the V-2 it achieved a peak altitude of 117 miles. That made the V-2 the first vehicle to reach the boundary of space.

RACHEL
In the end, Germany spent a lot of money very late developing a weapon that didn’t make much a difference in the war’s final outcome.

PAUL
But had the V2 been fully funded early in the war, things could have turned out different.

KRIS
That’s because von Braun’s team was designing a two stage missile capable of reaching the shores of the United States.

RACHEL
It’s sad to think that von Braun and his V-2 missile have such a mixed history.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of March. Next week’s show is a little bit of Venus and a little bit of the Beehive star cluster.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: March Week 4

2007-03-19T15:25:00.000-06:00

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
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.

KRSI
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'

Transcript: March Week 2

2007-03-12T16:02:00.000-06:00

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
At one PM on the 18th the moon reaches perigee, or its closest distance from earth.

KRIS
This month the moon’s perigee has a distance of 222 thousand miles.

RACHEL
At a speed of 75 miles per hour, the fastest legal speed in Idaho, it would take a car 396 days to drive to the moon at perigee. But wait, there’s another lunar event today.

PAUL
That’s right. The moon is also new today.

KRIS
The moon is new when it lines up with the sun, from the earth’s perspective.

RACHEL
Did you know we’ll have higher than average high tides today because of this?

PAUL
Higher than average? Why?

KRIS
Well perhaps we should first learn why the sun and moon raise tides.

RACHEL
Sure. Tides occur when the gravitational attraction of the sun or moon is not the same on opposite sides of the earth.

KRIS
Since the force of gravity weakens as you move away from the sun and moon, their attraction is stronger on the near side of the earth than it is on the far side.

PAUL
Oh so I see. When the moon pulls more strongly on the near side of the earth, it lifts the oceans into a high tide. And then on the earth’s far side, the moon’s weaker gravity pulls the oceans less strongly, so more water is left behind to form a high tide their.

RACHEL
Not quite. The difference in gravity between the near and far side reduces the ocean’s pressure on the sea floor at those two spots.
KRIS
And as a result, water in the world’s oceans flow to these opposite points of low pressure. And that’s where you find the high tides.

PAUL
But you also said we’d have larger than average tides today. Why is that?

RACHEL
Since the moon is new and therefore aligned with the sun, the moon’s gravity pulls in the same direction as the sun’s.

KRIS
When they pull in the same direction, the sun’s high tides are added to the moon’s high tides. These higher than average tides are called spring tides.

RACHEL
But wait, there’s more. This month’s spring tide is larger still

PAUL
Larger still?

KRIS
Yes, larger. Remember that lunar perigee occurred just nine hours before new moon. So the new moon is at its closest to earth.

RACHEL
So the moon’s gravity is stronger on the near side of the earth and relatively weaker on the far side. The greater difference in gravity across the earth raises even larger tides.

KRIS
So this month’s perigean spring tide may be between 33 and 45 percent larger than the usual spring tide.

RACHEL
But tidal heights involve more than just solar and lunar gravity.

KRIS
Changes in atmospheric pressure and the shape of the ocean bottoms and bays can strongly effect the variation in tides.

RACHEL
The most extreme tides take place in Canada. You’ll be surprised to hear how much low tide and high tide can vary in the Bay of Fundy.

KRIS
Over fifty feet at times.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of March. Next week Idaho Skies talks about the Vernal Equinox and the V-2 missile.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: March Week 1

2007-03-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Beginning on the evening of the sixth, the Zodiacal Light becomes visible in the evening again.

RACHEL
It’s visible because the moon is past full. So we have dark skies to see the Zodiacal Light.

KRIS
And each night the moon rises later, giving you a better opportunity to see the Zodiacal Light.

RACHEL
March is a particularly good month to look for the Zodiacal Light because it rises so steeply with respect to the horizon.

KRIS
So shortly after it gets dark, look for a faint glowing pillar of light rising in the west.

RACHEL
From a dark location the Zodiacal Light can be seen rising half way up to the zenith, or overhead.

KRIS
When you see it, you’re seeing sunlight reflecting from dust in orbit around the sun.

PAUL
Until the late 1970’s, the only planet known to have rings was Saturn.

KRIS
That changed 30 years ago on March 8th, 1977.

RACHEL
That’s when a telescope onboard an aircraft was monitoring the brightness of a star as it was occulted by Uranus.

PAUL
The occultation occurred when Uranus passed between the earth and a distant star, cutting off its light.

KRIS
Planetary astronomers like occultations because monitoring the star’s brightness during the occultation gives clues to the planet’s atmospheric structure.

RACHEL
But to their surprise astronomers detected several small decreases in the star’s brightness before and after it passed behind Uranus.

KRIS
Since the dips in the star’s brightness were symmetric with respect to Uranus, the dips were most likely created by a ring around the planet.

RACHEL
Had the dips in light brightness been due to one or more moons, the dips would not have been symmetric around the planet.

PAUL
Uranus is now known to have eleven dark and narrow rings.

KRIS
Instead of bright icy rings like Saturn’s, the rings of Uranus are made of rocky material and dust. The rings are between 1 and 60 miles wide.

RACHEL
Stacked together, they span a width of 8 thousand miles. Some of Saturn’s rings on the other hand span a width close to 200 thousand miles.

PAUL
Don’t forget to set your clock ahead one hour on the night of the 10th.

KRIS
Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 AM on the 11th. That’s four weeks earlier than usual.

RACHEL
Daylight Saving Time saves energy because more of our late day activities now take place while there’s still adequate sunlight.

PAUL
At 10 PM on the 11th the moon reaches the third quarter phase.

KRIS
The third quarter moon looks like a half moon. So does the first quarter moon, but unlike first quarter, the third quarter moon is visible after midnight, rather than before.

RACHEL
Also the moon’s western hemisphere is in sunlight, rather than its eastern hemisphere.

KRIS
So look after midnight for the last quarter moon. In binoculars you’ll see it’s covered with more lava plains and has fewer craters.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of March. Join us next week to hear about the moon and tides.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: February Week 4

2007-03-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week the New Horizons spacecraft will fly past our largest planet, Jupiter.

RACHEL
Its Jovian flyby will accelerate the spacecraft so it will reach Pluto three years earlier than it would without Jupiter.

KRIS
Still, Pluto is so distant that it will take New Horizons another nine years to reach this world.

PAUL
Last year, astronomers adopted the first official definition of a planet.

RACHEL
The astronomical definition for planet leaves Pluto out. Instead, Pluto is the first Kuiper Belt object to be discovered.

KRIS
It was discovered in 1930 by a Kansas farm boy named Clyde Tombaugh.

RACHEL
For 65 years, it was the only Kuiper Belt Object, or KBO, known.

KRIS
Today, hundreds of them have been discovered and it’s believed there are thousands more waiting to be discovered.

RACHEL
The New horizons will be our first close up exploration of these small icy worlds.

PAUL
March 1st is the 25th anniversary of the 1982 landing of Venera 13.

KRIS
Venera is Russian for Venus. The Venera 13 was their 13th spacecraft to reach the planet Venus.

RACHEL
But it wasn’t the 13th launched. It appears Venera 13 was the Soviet’s 20th attempt to reach Venus.

KRIS
Venera 13 was a two part spacecraft, a flyby spacecraft and a lander.

RACHEL
Since the flyby spacecraft didn’t enter Venusian orbit, it didn’t need a heavy rocket engine and fuel.

KRIS
That saved weight for the Venera 13 lander. And since it had a thick Venusian atmosphere to slow it down, the lander didn’t need a rocket either.

RACHEL
The parachute for Venera 13 was released high in the atmosphere. The thick atmosphere let the lander drop safely to the ground from an altitude of 29 miles.

KRIS
Once on the surface at Phoebe Regio, Venera 13 drilled a surface sample for analysis and returned images from the surface of Venus.

RACHEL
The surface near Venera 13 was a flat rocky plain with very little loose dirt.

KRIS
Rocks near the lander were discovered to be made of basalt, a volcanic rock found in much of Idaho.

RACHEL
Venera 13 survived for over two hours before it was cooked by the furnace-like temperatures on Venus.

PAUL
Hey, there’s a close passage between the moon and Saturn on the evening of the second.

KRIS
So look in the east after sunset for the gibbous moon. To its upper right is a star.

RACHEL
That star is really the ringed planet. And the moon and Saturn are close enough together to be seen in a pair of binoculars.

KRIS
But if you have a telescope, the view is better. Use an eyepiece that gives your telescope a magnification of at least 50 power if you want to see Saturn’s rings.

RACHEL
In your telescope you’ll find Saturn’s largest moon to the planet’s upper right.

KRIS
That’s Titan. Titan is larger than our moon and covered in a thick atmosphere of nitrogen gas.

RACHEL
But it doesn’t have a nice climate. The surface temperature of Titan is close to 300 degrees below.

KRIS
That’s so cold that water freezes as hard as rocks on earth.

RACHEL
In fact, that’s probably the composition of the pebbles that the Huygens’ lander saw on the Titanian surface.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of February. 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.

Transcript: February Week 3

2007-02-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

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
How many of our listeners remember astronaut John Glenn?

KRIS
His first trip into space took place 45 years ago on the 20th.

RACHEL
For our younger listeners, John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the earth.

PAUL
Didn’t the United States did launch two astronauts before Glenn?

KRIS
Yes. They were Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom.

RACHEL
But their Mercury spacecraft were launched by the Redstone booster, a rocket too weak to put them into orbit.

KRIS
So instead of going into orbit, they made 15 minute suborbital hops.

RACHEL
For John Glenn’s launch, the Redstone was replaced with the more powerful Atlas missile.

KRIS
The Atlas had the power to put the Mercury spacecraft into a 160 mile high orbit.

PAUL
Did you know John Glenn’s Mercury spacecraft was named Friendship 7?

RACHEL
Each Mercury spacecraft had a name that included a seven. That was to indicate that it took all seven astronauts to make the Mercury project a success.

KRIS
For John Glenn, all three of his orbits were uneventful.

RACHEL
But not on earth. At Mission Control, an indicator light for heat shield release lit up.

KRIS
The Mercury heat shield was held to the bottom of the spacecraft with clamps. And below the heat shield was the retro pack, a small rocket engine that slowed the Mercury capsule down for reentry.

RACHEL
Then just before splash down, the heat shield was released. This allowed it to act as part of a landing bag to cushion the astronaut at splash down.

KRIS
John Glenn wouldn’t make a successful splash down if he first didn’t make a successful reentry.

RACHEL
And he wouldn’t make a successful reentry if his heat shield dropped when the retro pack was discarded.

PAUL
So Glenn was told to retain the retro pack after it fired.

KRIS
On earth, Mission Control really believed there was a faulty switch on the Mercury, rather than a heat shield clamp that had come lose.

RACHEL
But to make sure, the retro pack was not jettisoned after it slowed the Mercury down. That way its three straps would hold the heat shield in place until well into reentry.

KRIS
By then, aerodynamic forces would probably keep the heat shield firmly in place on the base of the Mercury.

RACHEL
As it turned out, ground control was right, the switch was faulty and Glenn safely recovered in the Atlantic after a five hour flight.

PAUL
It’s been twenty years since the supernova SN1987A was discovered.

KRIS
On February 23rd, 1987, SN1987A, the closest supernova to earth since the invention of the telescope, was discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

RACHEL
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that’s 168 thousand light years away.

KRIS
So while we saw the supernova in 1987, it really exploded in 166 thousand BC.

PAUL
Astronomers didn’t study just the light of SN1987A.

RACHEL
That’s right. Neutrino detectors buried underground detected 25 neutrinos from the explosion. This was the birth of neutrino astronomy.

KRIS
Neutrinos are very light weight subatomic particles that carry no charge.

RACHEL
They’re formed when the collapsing core of a supernova squeezes protons and electrons into neutrons.

KRIS
Because they are so light and neutral, neutrinos can escape a supernova before the light of the explosion.

RACHEL
Perhaps a neutrino detector will give us advanced warning of the next supernova. KRISThat’s Idaho Skies for the third week of February. Next week’s show is a little bit of Pluto, Venus, and Saturn.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: February Week 2

2007-02-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

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
Thirty-five years ago on the 14th, the Soviet Union launched Luna 20 to the moon.

RACHEL
The unmanned Soviet spacecraft successfully returned over an ounce of lunar material.
KRIS
At the time, the Apollo missions were returning around 100 pounds of moon rocks and dust on each mission.

PAUL
At the time, the Soviet Union was claiming that they weren’t racing the United States to the moon.

RACHEL
They also claimed that their unmanned missions were safer than Apollo missions, so they were the preferred way to explore the moon.

KRIS
But that was all propaganda. The Soviet Union really was hoping to beat the United States to the moon.

RACHEL
To do so, they developed two manned moon programs. They were called the L1 and L3 projects.

PAUL
L1 was an attempt to send a Soviet cosmonaut around the moon before Apollo 8.

KRIS
And L3 was an attempt to land a cosmonaut on the moon before Apollo 11.

RACHEL
The L1 project would either launch two small spacecraft to the moon or launch a single spacecraft to the moon with the more powerful Proton booster.

KRIS
But the L1 project was put on hold after the death of cosmonaut Komarov in Soyuz 1.

RACHEL
As a result of the accident, the Soviets spent the next year redesigning the Soyuz into a safer spacecraft.

KRIS
Initially the Proton proved to be a very reliable booster. But after the Soyuz 1 accident, it showed a less dependable side when 75% of the Proton launches failed.

PAUL
We know the Soviets were still trying to beat the United States because our spy satellites show two rockets being prepared for a moon launch in December 1968.

RACHEL
The first was a Soyuz rocket, designed to carry three cosmonauts into orbit.

KRIS
And the second was a Proton rocket. This much more powerful rocket was to carry their moon ship.

RACHEL
The launch of Apollo 8 later that month put an end to the Soviet dream of beating the United States around the moon.

KRIS
The Soviet’s attempt to beat America to the moon’s surface ended in 1969 when two of their unmanned N-1 rockets failed.

RACHEL
Their failures were spectacular to say the least.

KRIS
The Soviet moon lander and orbiter were heavy, so the N-1 was a super booster that carried a lot of fuel.

RACHEL
When the N-1 control system failed and the N-1 engines shut down, the N-1 crashed with an explosion as powerful as a small atomic bomb.

KRIS
In fact, the second N-1 attempt completely destroyed the entire launch pad.

RACHEL
There were two more attempts to launch the N-1 before the Soviets finally gave up.

KRIS
After that, the Soviet Union claimed they never were in a race for the moon.

PAUL
And that’s the real moon hoax.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of February. Next week our show will talk about John Glenn and the first time neutrinos were used to make an astronomical observation of a supernova.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: February Week 1

2007-02-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is at apogee on the 7th at 7:00 PM.

KRIS
Its distance from earth this month is 252 thousand miles. That’s its greatest distance this month.

PAUL
Two hundred and fifty two thousand? Let’s put this into some kind of perspective for our listeners.

RACHEL
No problem. The average walking speed of an adult is three miles per hour.

KRIS
So when I do the math….

SOUND OF CALCULATOR BUTTONS BEING PUSHED

KRIS
… I calculate that it will take an adult almost 72 thousand hours to walk to the moon.

RACHEL
That means if you leave today, you’ll arrive at the moon in the middle of April 2015.

KRIS
I think I’ll wait until I can book a rocket flight.

PAUL
On the evening of the 7th, you can see three planets simultaneously in binoculars.

RACHEL
The planets are Mercury, Venus, and Uranus.

KRIS
Look low in the west-southwest at seven PM on the 7th.

RACHEL
You’ll see Venus, the Evening Star, one width of your palm above the horizon.

KRIS
While aiming your binoculars at Venus, put it at the upper left of your binocular’s field of view.

RACHEL
At the lower right you’ll see the next brightest star. But that’s not really a star, it’s Mercury.

KRIS
Close to the center of your binocular’s field is a star in Aquarius. But between that star and brilliant Venus is the planet Uranus.

PAUL
Uranus will be faint, so don’t expect it to jump right out.

RACHEL
Mercury and Venus are quite close to each other. From earth’s perspective, they’re located just above the edge of the sun.

KRIS
But Uranus is very distant. It’s clear across the other side of the solar system and twenty times farther away than either Mercury or Venus.

RACHEL
So don’t let their close proximity in the sky fool you.

PAUL
Sixty years ago on the 12th, a large meteor was observed exploding over Russia.

KRIS
It caught the attention of eyewitnesses because of its great brilliance and its loud boom when it exploded.

RACHEL
Since this meteor occurred over the Sikhote-Alin region, it’s called the Sikhote-Alin meteorite

KRIS
It’s believed that 900 tons of the meteor survived and landed within a one square mile area.

PAUL
This sounds like a good time to explain some meteor terminology.

RACHEL
Alright. A small rocky body in space is called a meteoroid.

KRIS
When a meteoroid enters the earth’s atmosphere and begins to glow, we call it a meteor.

RACHEL
A meteor that survives its passage through the atmosphere and lands on the ground is called a meteorite.

PAUL
And a rock that you think is a meteorite, but is really just a rock, is called a meteor-wrong.

KRIS AND RACHEL
Um, yeah, thanks for that one.

KRIS
Often a meteorite doesn’t come down in one piece. The region that fragments of a meteorite occupy is called a strewn field.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of February. Join us next week to hear about the real moon hoax. For Idaho Skies this is Paul

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: January Week 5

2007-01-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on February 1st at 11:45 PM.

RACHEL
The full moon of February is often called the Snow moon.

KRIS
The moon is full when it’s opposite the sun in our sky.

RACHEL
But because the moon’s orbit is inclined by five degrees with respect to our orbit around the sun, the full moon is usually above or below a line connecting the sun and earth.

PAUL
As a result, the earth’s shadow doesn’t fall on the moon every full moon. So we don’t have a lunar eclipse every month.

KRIS
But at two times a year the full moon can line up with the sun and earth.

RACHEL
These two points at which the moon’s orbit intersects the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun are called nodes.

KRIS
But the full moon doesn’t have to be exactly at a node. The full moon is large enough that if it’s close to a node, we will still have a lunar eclipse.

RACHEL
Therefore every year we’ll see between two and five lunar eclipses.

KRIS
Our next lunar eclipse doesn’t take place until March 3rd. Unfortunately, the eclipse is ending as the moon rises. So we won’t see much of it.

PAUL
But we have a second opportunity on August 28th.

RACHEL
And most of this total lunar eclipse will be visible from Idaho. Only the very end of it will occur at moon set.

KRIS
You can expect to see the moon turn orange during the eclipse. The orange comes from sunlight being refracted around the earth’s atmosphere.

RACHEL
If the air is clear and not cloudy, then the moon will be a bright orange. But if it’s cloudy, the moon will be a dull orange.

PAUL
On the 3rd at six AM, the lucida of Leo the Lion will be one degree to the east of the moon.

KRIS
The lucida of Leo is the star called Regulus. It represents the heart of the lion.

RACHEL
The moon is one half degree wide. So Regulus will only be two lunar diameters away from the moon.

KRIS
The moon and Regulus are best seen in your binoculars.

PAUL
Beginning on the 4th, the Zodiacal Light will be visible in west after sunset.

RACHEL
Wait until it gets dark to look for it. That will be around 7:30 PM.

KRIS
The Zodiacal Light will look like a faint pillar of light.

RACHEL
At first you may mistake it for the light of dusk.

KRIS
But the light of dusk hugs the horizon. The Zodiacal Light on the other hand is narrow and tall.

RACHEL
We have two weeks to see the Zodiacal Light. After that, evening moon light will interfere.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of January and beginning of February. Join us next month to hear about the space and astronomy events for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico.

Transcript: January Week 4

2007-01-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon reaches first quarter phase on the 25th at 4:00 PM.

KRIS
This is the best phase to go moon watching.

RACHEL
So if you got a new telescope for Christmas, tonight’s the night to get it out and look at the moon.

KRIS
Pay particular attention to the lunar terminator.

ARNOLD
I’ll be back

KRIS
No, not that kind of terminator. The terminator is the boundary between day and night.

PAUL
At the terminator, the sun is just beginning to rise.

RACHEL
Since the moon has no atmosphere to scatter sunlight, its shadows are very dark and crisp.

KRIS
But shadows on the moon are not perfectly dark. The moon’s rough surface scatters light and fills in some of the shadows.

RACHEL
Through your telescope, look closely along the lunar terminator. You’ll probably see points of light on the dark side of the terminator.

KRIS
Most of those are mountain peaks. They’re so high the sun hits the peaks hours before their base.

PAUL
Wow, what a difference 45 years can make in our success of space missions.

RACHEL
In the early 1960’s, the United States was trying to land its first spacecraft on the moon.

KRIS
Actually we were trying to hit the moon, since we hadn’t developed soft landing techniques yet.

RACHEL
The spacecraft were called Ranger. And Ranger 3 was launched to the moon 45 years ago on the 26th.

KRIS
The Ranger spacecraft sent live television images of the moon as they got closer and closer to the surface.

PAUL
Live television from a crashing spacecraft was probably better than what the three networks were showing on the air at the time.

RACHEL
The Ranger series paved the way for the moon landings of Surveyor and Apollo.

KRIS
The United States would not have a successful moon crash until Ranger 7 in 1964.

RACHEL
Due to course correction errors, Ranger 3 missed its suicidal landing on the moon by a whooping 24,000 miles, or six lunar diameters.

KRIS
Today Ranger 3 is stranded in solar orbit.

PAUL
On a tragic note, the astronauts of Apollo 1 died 40 years ago on the 27th.

RACHEL
Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee where killed during a ground test of the new Apollo spacecraft.

KRIS
The design of Apollo was rushed in order to meet John F. Kennedy’s deadline of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade.

PAUL
Apollo’s poor design left wire bundles exposed where their insulation could be abraded.

RACHEL
In addition, its interior was filled with flammable materials and its hatch was designed to be opened inward.

KRIS
During a ground test of January 27th, 1967, the Apollo was on internal power and had an internal atmosphere of 100% oxygen.

RACHEL
At 6:31 PM the astronauts called out that there was a fire inside the spacecraft.

KRIS
The oxygen atmosphere turned the interior of the capsule into an inferno.

RACHEL
The gases generated by the combustion of flammable materials made it impossible to open the hatch.

KRIS
The plastics inside the spacecraft generated poisonous gases that killed the astronauts before the fire did.

RACHEL
At the remains of Launch Complex 34, where Apollo 1 was being tested, there’s a plaque that reads,

KRIS
LAUNCH COMPLEX 34
Friday, 27 January 1967
1831 Hours

PAUL
Dedicated to the living memory of the crew of the Apollo 1:
U.S.A.F. Lt. Colonel Virgil I. Grissom
U.S.A.F. Lt. Colonel Edward H. White, II
U.S.N. Lt. Commander Roger B. Chaffee

RACHEL
They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived.

Transcript: January Week 3

2007-01-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

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
Venus is once again the evening star.

RACHEL
At 6:30 PM on the 20th look for Venus 4 degrees above the horizon.

KRIS
The 45 hour young moon will be located to the upper left of Venus and only 3 degrees away.

RACHEL
You’ll need a pair of binoculars and a flat west-southwest horizon to see the moon and Venus.

KRIS
Venus should be the easier object to find. So let Venus guide you to the thin crescent moon.

RACHEL
Very few people have ever seen the moon less than two days old. So if you can find it, you’ll have something to be proud of.

PAUL
English mathematician John Couch Adams was born 215 years ago on the 21st.

KRIS
John Couch Adams? Who is he?

RACHEL
Adams predicted the position of the first planet X.

KRIS
Wasn’t that Neptune?

RACHEL
That’s right. After the discovery of Uranus by William Hershel, astronomers began to notice that the planet wasn’t located exactly where it was suppose to be.

PAUL
So either Newton’s laws failed at large distances from the sun or an unseen planet was tugging on Uranus.

KRIS
Adams assumed it was an undiscovered planet rather than a limitation to Newton’s laws of gravity or motion.

RACHEL
Adams assumed planet X was located twice as far from the sun as Uranus.

KRIS
That’s because the Titus-Bode Law predicted a planet should be located at that distance.

RACHEL
Adams then calculated the location where planet X would have to be to create the observed variations in the orbit of Uranus.

KRIS
Unfortunately Adams couldn’t convince English astronomers to look for his planet.

RACHEL
At the same time, French mathematicians and astronomers were also making calculations on the location of planet X.

PAUL
And unlike the English, Le Verrier, a French astronomer, did go looking for planet X.

KRIS
Le Verrier and his assistant used the latest star charts and found the new planet in less than an hour.

RACHEL
But it turns out they were not the first to find Neptune.

KRIS
That’s right. In one of Galileo’s notes he marked the location of a star that was near the planet Jupiter. It turns out that the star was actually Neptune.

RACHEL
For more astronomy information, check out the Idaho Skies webpage

KRIS
You’ll find information and links to all of Idaho’s space and astronomy resources.

PAUL
Like observatories..

RACHEL
..Planetariums..

KRIS
..and astronomy clubs

RACHEL
The website is at idahoskies dot org.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of January. Join us next week to hear about the lunar terminator and the Ranger spacecraft. For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: January week 2

2007-01-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

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
The moon is at apogee on the 10th at 11 AM

KRIS
Apogee is the point in the moon’s elliptical orbit that is its greatest distance from earth.

RACHEL
The moon is 251 thousand miles away today. That’s the same distance as ten trips around the world.

PAUL
Wait; what’s that star to the moon’s upper right on the morning of the 11th?

KRIS
Why that’s Spica, or the lucida of Virgo.

RACHEL
Spica will be 2-1/2 degrees from the moon, or five lunar diameters away. You can’t miss it.

KRIS
Spica is the 16th brightest star in our sky. But it’s not a single star. It’s really two stars orbiting each other.

RACHEL
They orbit each other so closely that their mutual gravities pull each other out of round.

KRIS
The light you see from Spica left in the year 1744, or 262 years ago.

PAUL
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was born 100 years ago on the 12th.

RACHEL
You may not be familiar with the name of Korolev, but you are familiar with his work.

KRIS
Korolev designed the SS6 Sapwood, the world’s first successful inter continental ballistic missile, or ICBM.

RACHEL
After proving that it worked, he converted it into the first rocket capable of putting a satellite into space.

KRIS
The Soviets did not name the rocket Sapwood; that was NATO’s name. Korolev called it the R-7. His nickname for his creation was Semyorka, or old number seven.

PAUL
It was old number seven that put Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin into orbit.

RACHEL
The rocket is still being used today in Russia, making it the most successful rocket in history.

KRIS
In a way, its surprising that Korolev designed the R-7.

RACHEL
Shortly before the beginning of World War II, he was arrested by Stalin in one of his paranoid purges.

PAUL
Korolev was sent to work in the Kolyma gold mine, one of Russia’s worse gulags.

KRIS
Since the Soviet Union was unprepared to fight the war against Germany, Stalin began using his political prisoners as slave labor.

RACHEL
So Korolev was saved from the Kolyma gold mine and sent to an aeronautical lab.

KRIS
After the end of World War II Korolev was sent to Germany to study the Nazi V-2 missile.

RACHEL
With the information he gained and his own creativity, Korolev succeeded in creating the Soviet Union’s first missile, the R-1.

KRIS
It’s amazing to think that a man so brutalized by the Soviet system would go on to create their space program.

RACHEL
Korolev died in 1966 during a simple operation. His surgeon discovered Korolev had cancer and he was unable to treat it. Korolev died on the operating table.

PAUL
At 7:00 AM on the 15th, Antares is less than 2 degrees above the very thin crescent moon.

KRIS
But that’s not all. Jupiter will be the even brighter star to the moon’s upper left.

RACHEL
Jupiter’s distance from the moon is 6-1/2 degrees. And all three objects, Jupiter, the moon, and Antares will fit in the field of view of your binoculars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of January. Next week our show will tell you how to find a very young moon and the two discoveries of Neptune. For Idaho Skies this is Paul.

KRIS
..Kris..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcript: January Week 1

2006-12-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week we're recording live with Cub Scout Troop 33.

The earth reaches its perihelion on the 3rd at two PM.

RACHEL
Perihelion is the point in the earth’s orbit that’s the closest to the sun.

KRIS
That’s a distance of 91 million, 399 thousand miles. That’s equal to more than 30 thousand trips across the United States.

RACHEL
Since today we’re at perihelion, our distance from the sun begins to increase. And our distance from the sun continues to increase until July 7th.

PAUL
A nice meteor shower reaches it peak on the morning of the fourth.

KRIS
This is the Quadrantid meteor shower. Its meteors will appear to originate low in the northeast, just below the Big Dipper’s bowl.

RACHEL
Usually you’ll see an average of 45 Quadrantids every hour. But the shower has been known to produce outbursts that can reach 200 meteors per hour.

KRIS
However Quadrantid meteors do tend to be faint. So you’ll want to watch the shower from a location with dark skies.

RACHEL
So lie back on a lawn chair in your warm sleeping bag and look straight up.

PAUL
Would you like to see Saturn through your telescope?

KRIS
The moon will lead you to the ringed world on the morning of the 6th.

RACHEL
Saturn is the pale yellow star to the moon’s left. The distance between them is three degrees, or six lunar diameters.

KRIS
Point your telescope at Saturn and use a magnification of at least 50 power if you want to see the planet and its rings.

RACHEL
A magnification greater than 100 power is not necessary nor is it recommended with small telescopes.

PAUL
Since you have Saturn in your sights, be sure to look for its largest moon, Titan.

KRIS
Titan will appear as the star to the upper left of Saturn. Titan will be five ring diameters away from Saturn.

RACHEL
Saturn is as wide as nine earths and the distance across its rings is only a little greater than the distance between the earth and moon.

PAUL
The lucida, or brightest star, of Leo the Lion will be one degree from the moon’s upper right on the evening of the 6th.

RACHEL
Do you know the name of that star? If you said Regulus, you’re right.

KRIS
While Regulus and the moon appear close together in the sky, they’re not close in depth.

RACHEL
The light of Regulus left the star 77-1/2 years ago while the light of the moon only left one and quarter seconds ago.

PAUL
Happy birthday Stephen Hawking!

KRIS
Stephen Hawking is 65 years old on the 8th.

RACHEL
Hawking is best known for his work in Cosmology. One of his focuses has been on uniting the Theory of Relativity with Quantum Mechanics.

KRIS
One of Hawking’s discoveries is that black holes may not be black after all.

RACHEL
That’s right. They may actually emit a small amount of radiation and eventually evaporate away.

KRIS
But a black hole with the mass of a star will take longer to evaporate then the age of the universe.

RACHEL
But perhaps there are mini black holes with the mass of a mountain that are evaporating away today.

PAUL
If so, they’re exploding in a burst of gamma radiation.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of January. Join us next week to hear about Spica and Sergei Korolev.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: December Week 4

2006-12-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon also reaches the perigee of its orbit for the second time this month on the 27th at 8 PM.

KRIS
Its distance this time is a mere 230,108 miles away.

RACHEL
That puts this perigee two thousand seven hundred miles farther away than this month’s first perigee on the 1st, or 27 days ago.

PAUL
Did you know that the moon is not at the same phase today that it was at it’s last perigee?

KRIS
In fact, the moon won’t be in the same phase for another two days.

RACHEL
So it takes the moon 27 days to orbit the earth, but 29 days to go from full moon to full moon.

PAUL
Why this discrepancy?

KRIS
In the 27 days required for the moon to complete one orbit around the earth, the earth has traveled nearly 30 degrees around the sun.

RACHEL
The moon’s phase depends on its relative position with respect to the earth and the sun.

KRIS
So after the moon completes one orbit, it must travel an additional two days to get back into the same alignment with respect to the sun.

PAUL
We celebrate another astronomical birthday this week.

RACHEL
Johannes Kepler was born 435 years ago on the 27th.

KRIS
Born to a mercenary father and quarrelsome mother, Kepler did not enjoy a happy childhood.

RACHEL
As a young boy he spent time at a religious school for Lutheran boys in Tubingen.

KRIS
There he was taught the Lutheran orthodoxy. But Kepler generally felt unworthy and unhappy.

PAUL
He did however find happiness in his love for mathematics.

RACHEL
Kepler was taught astronomy as a part of his mathematics education.

KRIS
In the 16th century, most astronomers didn’t care how the planets actually traveled around the earth. They were more concerned with how to mathematically predict their locations.

RACHEL
Unlike the astronomers of his day, Kepler wanted to know the actual paths of the planets, and not just the mathematics that predicted their position in the sky.

KRIS
While in school, Kepler was introduced to the novel concept that the planets, including the earth, may actually travel around the sun.

RACHEL
After graduating from school, Kepler was sent to teach mathematics to young boys in Graz.

KRIS
He was not very good at this and students eventually stopped signing up to take his class.

PAUL
But while there, Kepler believed he found the true orbits of the planets.

RACHEL
Unfortunately his geometric model was wrong.

KRIS
Kepler assumed the problem was with his data of planetary positions, and not his geometric model.

PAUL
In reality, the data was inaccurate and his model was wrong.

RACHEL
To get a handle on the planets’ movements, Kepler needed better positional data on the planets.

KRIS
To get this superior data, he would need to work with the best astronomer of the day, Tycho Brahe.

RACHEL
Luckily for Kepler, Tycho was looking for a mathematical assistant. Kepler got the job.

KRIS
Kepler and Tycho did not get along. Tycho was a loud, brash nobleman.

PAUL
And poor Kepler was a quiet and pious commoner.

RACHEL
When Tycho died a year later, Kepler had to fight with the family of Tycho to get Tycho’s observational data.

KRIS
Finally Kepler got Tycho’s data. With it, Kepler discovered the true orbits of the planets.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of December. Join us next week for the space and astronomy news from Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico.

Transcript: December Week 3

2006-12-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

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
Last week was Tycho Brahe’s 460th birthday.

RACHEL
He’s best known for his measurements of the planets’ positions.

KRIS
When Tycho was a young man, predictions of some astronomical events were very poor. For example, the close alignment between two planets could be in error by several days.

PAUL
Tycho wasn’t happy with this amount of inaccuracy in astronomy.

RACHEL
So he decided he had to build his own instruments and an observatory.

KRIS
The observatory was built on land given to Tycho by Emperor Rudolph the second and named Uraniburg. Uraniburg means castle to the stars.

RACHEL
Tycho’s work was exacting. He constantly recalibrated his instruments and took multiple measurements of each planet’s position in the sky.

KRIS
His measurements were amazingly accurate. Especially when you consider they were made shortly before the invention of the telescope.

RACHEL
Tycho hoped his measurements would ultimately settle the argument over the structure of the universe.

PAUL
Today we would say he wanted to determine the structure of the solar system, but most 16th century astronomers would not have understood the term, solar system.

KRIS
To them, the earth at the center of the universe and everything else orbited around it.

RACHEL
But Tycho believed in a modified version of the geocentric universe that we call the Tychoian System.

KRIS
Tycho believed that the planets orbited the sun, but that the sun orbited the earth.

RACHEL
Remember, to most 16th century astronomers, the earth was not a planet.

KRIS
Tycho was a supreme observational astronomer. But he wasn’t a good enough theorist or mathematician to make sense of his observations.

RACHEL
Tycho needed help and in 1600, he hired just the person he needed.

KRIS
And by coincidence, Kepler celebrates his birthday next week. And next week we’ll have more to say about Kepler.

PAUL
The 21st is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Luna 13.

RACHEL
Luna 13 was another Soviet lunar lander.

PAUL
It flew to the moon on top of a nearly two ton crasher stage.

KRIS
The crasher stage fired its engines to slow Luna 13 down in preparation for landing. The spherical lander was ejected shortly before it crashed on the moon.

RACHEL
Luna 13 hit the lunar surface and rolled to a stop.

KRIS
Then the two foot diameter capsule opened the four petals covering its top and began transmitting images and testing the lunar soil.

PAUL
The winter solstice begins on Dec 21 at 6:22 PM.

RACHEL
That marks the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere.

KRIS
The first day of winter is the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

RACHEL
If you were to watch the sun set for an entire year you would notice its position on the horizon changes every day.

KRIS
The sunset position drifts to the south every day from the beginning of summer to the beginning of winter.

RACHEL
On the winter solstice the sun’s southward movement comes to a stop. And for a few days, the sun appears to set in the same location.

KRIS
The word solstice means, sun standing still. That’s an appropriate description for what happens at the solstices.

RACHEL
And that’s Idaho Skies for the third week of December. Listen next week as we talk about the moon’s orbit and Johannes Kepler.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: December week 2

2006-12-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Did you know amateur radio operators have built their own satellites?

KRIS
That’s right. The first one was named OSCAR and it was launched 45 years ago on the 12th.

RACHEL
OSCAR stood for Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio and it only weighed 11 pounds.

KRIS
Instead of using solar cells, OSCAR ran on batteries.

RACHEL
This means its lifetime was limited. So after three weeks its batteries died and OSCAR fell silent.

KRIS
The satellite operated a low power radio transmitter that sent the Morse code symbols for HI HI.

PAUL
Here’s what OSCAR’s radio transmission sounded like.

PLAY OSCAR FILE

RACHEL
To amateur radio operators, HI HI means you’re laughing or smiling.

KRIS
As the temperature of OSCAR changed, so did the speed at which it sent its message.

RACHEL
OSCAR was built for 21 dollars in parts.

KRIS
And it was launched for free.

PAUL
Its ride into orbit was provided by the launch of Discoverer 36.

RACHEL
The Discoverer series of spacecraft were our first spy satellites.

KRIS
Of course, the Air Force didn’t call them that in public. That’s why they were given the name Discoverer.

RACHEL
The Discoverer satellites were launched on a two stage rocket called the Thor Able.

KRIS
The second stage, the Able, needed ballast, or weight, for balance.

PAUL
Usually dead weight is added to the rocket booster for ballast.

RACHEL
The amateur radio operators who built OSCAR convinced the United States Air Force to carry their 11 pound satellite as part of the Able’s ballast.

KRIS
OSCAR reentered earth’s atmosphere on January 31, 1962 after being in space for 50 days.

RACHEL
If you’d like to learn more about amateur radio satellites, check out the AMSAT organization’s webpage at www.amsat.org.

PAUL
A meteor shower from the constellation Gemini reaches its peak on the evening of the 13th.

KRIS
The Geminid meteor shower is one of those that will be better before midnight.

RACHEL
This will be a nice shower to watch, as the shower has meteors that are brighter on average than most other meteor showers.

KRIS
To watch the shower, find a comfortable reclining chair and look up.

PAUL
But be sure to wear warm clothing, as it is the middle of December.

RACHEL
Geminid meteors will appear to originate from near the star Castor, the fainter of twin stars Castor and Pollux.

KRIS
Castor and Pollux appear as twin stars low in the north-northeast after dark.

PAUL
If he were still alive, Tycho Brahe would be 460 years old on the 14th.

RACHEL
Tycho was the greatest observational astronomer.

KRIS
But perhaps you’ve heard of his golden nose.

RACHEL
While attending the university, he got into an argument with a fellow student over who was the better mathematician.

KRIS
Instead of settling their argument over the chalk board, they settled it over a duel with swords.

RACHEL
Tycho may have been a better mathematician than swordsman. He lost the tip of his nose in the duel.

KRIS
To cover up his disfigurement, Tycho fashioned a gold and silver cover for his nose.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of December. Next week we’ll have more on Tycho Brahe along with Luna 13 and the winter solstice.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: December Week 1

2006-12-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Can you believe it, it’s been ten years since Mars Pathfinder was launched to Mars.

RACHEL
Mars Pathfinder was a NASA experiment in building satellites faster, better, and cheaper.

KRIS
Early nineties NASA Administrator Dan Goldin wanted spacecraft that were built and tested faster.

RACHEL
By saving time in their construction and testing, their overall costs would be lower.

PAUL
At least that was the hope.

KRIS
In the case of Mars Pathfinder though, it worked.

RACHEL
Most of our listeners may not remember the Mars Pathfinder lander, but they will remember its more popular passenger, the Sojourner rover.

KRIS
Mars Pathfinder and its passenger left earth on December 4th 1996 for a seven month journey to Valles Ares on the red planet, Mars.

RACHEL
And they became our third landing on Mars and our first rover.

PAUL
Initially, the JPL team responsible for the Mars Pathfinder didn’t want a rover onboard their spacecraft.

KRIS
That’s because they were already dealing with a new air bag landing system while trying to show they could do useful science on Mars on a very limited budget.

RACHEL
But once Mars Pathfinder was on Mars, Sojourner stole the show by analyzing rocks and taking pictures.

PAUL
The mission design called for them to function for 30 days on Mars.

KRIS
But they were built even better. They functioned for close to three months, or almost three times longer.

RACHEL
The cold Martian nights finally took its toll on the lander. One morning it failed to wake up and contact earth.

KRIS
Once the lander failed, JPL had no way to contact Sojourner.

RACHEL
JPL programmed Sojourner to remain close to the lander if she failed to receive instructions.

KRIS
So in all likelihood, Sojourner traveled in circles around the lander while waiting for a command.

RACHEL
But eventually her batteries ran out and she came to a halt.

KRIS
Perhaps one of the scouts listening this evening will be part of the crew that brings Sojourner back to earth.

RACHEL
I know the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum would be delighted to put it on display.

PAUL
The planets Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter form a tight cluster on the morning of the 9th.

KRIS
Unfortunately, they’ll be close to the horizon. So you’ll need a pair of binoculars to see them well.

RACHEL
The three planets will fit within a circle 1-1/4 degree across. Your binoculars probably view an area seven degrees across.

PAUL
So you can see, the three planets will fit within a small circle inside your binoculars.

KRIS
The planetary trio will be six degrees above the southeast horizon at 7:30 AM.

RACHEL
But don’t wait much later than 7:30 to see them, as the sun will begin lighting up the horizon by this time.

KRIS
In your binoculars, the planets form a triangle.

PAUL
Mercury will be the apex, or at the top.

RACHEL
Jupiter will be the lower left corner and Mars the lower right corner.

KRIS
The three planets will remain very close together until the 11th. Watch them daily and you’ll detect their changing relative positions.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of December. Join us next week to hear about the first amateur satellite and the astronomer, Tycho Brahe.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: November Week 4

2006-11-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Mercury makes it best appearance for the year on the morning of the 25th.

KRIS
To find it, look nine degrees above the east-southeast horizon at 7:00 AM.

RACHEL
For a handy reference, your palm is about ten degrees wide when viewed from an outstretched hand.

PAUL
Get it? Handy reference?

KRIS and RACHEL
Shusssh, they get it.

RACHEL
So lay your pinky finger along the horizon and Mercury will appear near the top of your index finger.

KRIS
Mercury will be easier to see if you use a pair of binoculars.

RACHEL
Mercury will be the only bright star in the area.

KRIS
When you look at Mercury, you’re looking at a world that’s only 38% as large as earth.

PAUL
It’s also only 38% as far from the sun.

RACHEL
Mercury has a surface temperature of one thousand three hundred degrees at the equator.

KRIS
But during the night, its surface temperature is one of the lowest in the solar system. In fact it gets so cold that nitrogen gas would freeze into a liquid.

RACHEL
So if the planet had an atmosphere it would rain liquid nitrogen.

PAUL
Two weeks after the United States, the Soviet Union put their own spacecraft into orbit around Mars on November 27th, 1971.

KRIS
But unlike the American Mariner 9, the Soviet Mars 2 spacecraft carried a lander.

RACHEL
The one ton lander separated from the orbiter before the orbiter fired its braking engines to enter into Martian orbit.

PAUL
That way, the orbiter’s braking rocket could be smaller. It didn’t have to slow down both the lander and orbiter.

KRIS
The braking rocket on the lander was smaller still since it primarily used the Martian atmosphere to slow it down.

RACHEL
Although the Soviets weren’t very clear about it, it appears the lander failed to land properly.

KRIS
In other words, it crashed.

SOUND EFFECT OF A CRASH

RACHEL
Somewhere on Mars there is a 35 year old crater filled with Russian scrape metal.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of November. Join us next week to hear about space chimp Enos and the Pleiades.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris…

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: November Week 3

2006-11-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Thirty five years ago the Mariner 9 spacecraft went into orbit around Mars.

RACHEL
That day was November 14th, 1971.

KRIS
Mariner 9 was an American spacecraft. And it was the first to orbit another planet.

PAUL
Before Mainer 9, all spacecraft sent to study the planets Venus and Mars were flyby missions.

RACHEL
Orbital missions are more difficult than flybys because they carry additional fuel and need more accurate trajectories and engine firings.

KRIS
The previous Martian flybys only photographed a small portion of Mars. The images from these flybys were unfortunately of the old boring parts of Mars.

RACHEL
Mariner 9 eventually returned images of huge shield volcanoes, vastly deep canyons, and signs that water flowed on Mars in the past.

KRIS
What a difference Mariner 9 made. Mars had almost been written off as a dead and uninteresting world.

RACHEL
Along with Mars, Mariner 9 also returned images of its two moons, Phobos and Deimos. The moons are named for the Latin words for fear and terror.

KRIS
These Martina satellites were our first views of asteroids.

PAUL
The Leonid meteor shower reaches it peak on the morning of the 18th.

RACHEL
The meteors you’ll see streaking across the sky are small, averaging about the size of a BB.

KRIS
The meteors are solid pieces of dust and rock blown off the nucleus of comet Tempel-Tuttle. The meteors travel very fast.

PAUL
That’s right. They enter the atmosphere about eight times faster than the Space Shuttle orbits the earth.

RACHEL
The Leonids are good at leaving glowing trails. The trails can persist for several seconds to as long as several minutes.

KRIS
As high altitude winds blow the glowing trail around, it changes from a straight line to a curvy one.

PAUL
In dark skies you may see a dozen meteors per hour.

RACHEL
Look for them to streak out of the east after midnight. This year the thin crescent moon will create minimal interference until shortly before sunrise.

KRIS
And that’s Idaho Skies for the third week of November. Next week our topic is the morning appearance of Mercury and the landing of the spacecraft Mars 2.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris...

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcripts: November Week 2

2006-11-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Don’t forget, Mercury transits the sun on the 8th. This is an event that occurs only 13 times each century.

KRIS
That means we’ll see the silhouette of Mercury pass across the face of the sun.

RACHEL
To see this event, you’ll need a telescope with a safe solar filter.

PAUL
Under no circumstance look at the sun through a telescope if it doesn’t have a safe solar filter!

KRIS
If your telescope doesn’t have a solar filter, then you can project the sun’s image onto a wall where it is safe to look at the reflected image.

RACHEL
A magnification of at least 50 power is all you need to see the transit. Although a magnification of 100 power will be better.

PAUL
The transit becomes visible at around 12:14 PM and lasts until 5:08.

KRIS
Through a telescope, Mercury will enter the sun’s disk at the seven o’clock position and exit at the three o’clock position.

RACHEL
In a telescope you’ll see Mercury as a tiny dot slowly drifting across the solar face.

KRIS
Unlike a sunspot, Mercury will be perfectly round and have sharply defined edges.

PAUL
We celebrate Edmund Halley's 350th birthday on the 8th.

RACHEL
Halley is best known for his discovery that comets return to our skies periodically.

KRIS
Until the early 18th century it was believed that each comet was a one time event. In other words, each one appeared just once and never returned.

RACHEL
While keeping Newton’s laws of motion and gravity in mind as he was looking over the history of bright comets, Halley discovered that one particular comet kept returning every 76 years.

KRIS
He then predicted it would return in 1758 or 1759.

RACHEL
And when the comet reappeared on Christmas Day 1758, it was named after him.

KRIS
By the way, Halley’s last name does not rhyme with Bailey, but sounds more like Hal-ee.

PAUL
Forty years ago on the 12th, Gemini 12, the last Gemini, was launched into earth orbit.

RACHEL
The ten Gemini space missions were designed to develop and test the procedures NASA needed to launch the Apollo mission to the moon.

KRIS
The astronauts onboard Gemini 12 were Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin. And both would eventually go to the moon.

PAUL
The moon rises between Saturn and the star Regulus on the morning of the 13th.

RACHEL
This is a good binocular event.

KRIS
In your binoculars you’ll see the planet Saturn as the star to the moon’s upper right

RACHEL
And Regulus, which is the star that represents the lion’s heart, to the moon’s lower right.

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of November. Join us next week to hear about the Mariner 9 and the Leonid meteor shower.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Transcripts: 31 Oct - 6 Nov

2006-11-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Twenty five years ago on the 4th, the Venera 14 spacecraft was launched to Venus.

RACHEL
Venera 14 was a Soviet spacecraft. And its mission was to explore the atmosphere and surface of Venus.

KRIS
To do this, it had to be a two part spacecraft. It consisted of an orbiter and a descent craft.

RACHEL
Venera 14 and its twin, Venera 13, both successfully landed on the surface of Venus. We’ll talk about their discoveries on the anniversary of their landing.

PAUL
Astronomer Fred Whipple was born one hundred years ago on the 5th.

KRIS
One of Whipple’s earliest works involved using two widely spaced cameras to record images of meteors.

RACHEL
By using his cameras to triangulate the positions and trajectories of meteors, Whipple was able to calculate their orbits before they entered earth’s atmosphere.

KRIS
These calculations lead to the conclusion that many meteors we see in the night sky come from comets.

PAUL
Speaking of comets, it was Whipple who developed the modern understanding of their composition.

RACHEL
In 1950 he proposed that they were a mixture of ice and dust. Whipple called them dirty snowballs.

KRIS
However, the Deep Impact spacecraft has modified our definition of comets a bit. Comets actually appear to be icy dirt balls instead.

PAUL
A fantastic day time astronomical event takes place on the 8th.

RACHEL
Tiny and innermost Mercury passes in front of the sun from earth’s perspective.

KRIS
That means we’ll see the silhouette of Mercury pass across the face of the sun.

PAUL
To see this event, you’ll need a telescope with a magnification of at least 50 power, although 100 power will be better.

RACHEL
Not only that, but your telescope also needs a proper solar filter.

KRIS
But if your telescope doesn’t have a solar filter, then project the sun’s image onto a wall. It’s safe to look at the sun’s image if it’s first reflected off a surface like paper or a wall.

RACHEL
However, under no circumstance look at the sun through a telescope if it doesn’t have a safe solar filter!

PAUL
The transit becomes visible at around 12:14 PM and lasts until 5:08 PM

KRIS
Through a telescope, Mercury will enter the sun’s disk at the seven o’clock position and exit at the three o’clock position.

RACHEL
In a telescope Mercury will appear as a tiny dot drifting across the solar face.

KRIS
Unlike a sunspot, Mercury will be perfectly round and have sharply defined edges.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of November. Join us next week when our topic is Edmund Halley’s great comet discovery.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Put Your Name on the Dawn Spacecraft

2006-10-10T08:10:00.000-06:00

The Dawn spacecraft will be our first spacecraft to explore the asteroid
belt long term. Previous missions where just flybys. Until November
4th, JPL is taking names that they place onboard the spacecraft. Go to
this page and you can have your name placed onboard Dawn.

Paul

Transcript: 25-29 September

2006-09-30T08:07:00.000-06:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the fourth week of September. We're your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
This week we're recording live at the Boise Astronomical Society's August meeting

Cheers

PAUL
The planet Neptune was discovered 160 years ago on the 23rd.

KRIS
Neptune was the first planet X.

RACHEL
Early 19th century astronomers discovered that the planet Uranus was not located exactly where Newton's laws of motion and gravity predicted it should be.

KRIS
So either Newton's laws failed at the vast distances to Uranus or something was pulling Uranus out of its orbit.

RACHEL
Two mathematicians, Leverrier in France and Adams in England, began analyzing the motions of Uranus to discover where a planet X might be located.

KRIS
By assuming a radius for the orbit of Planet X based on the Titus-Bode Law, both Leverrier and Adams came up with very similar positions.

RACHEL
Adams could not convince English astronomers to look for the new planet. But Leverrier did convince astronomer Galle in Berlin to look for it.

KRIS
Using a new star chart, Galle and his assistant d'Arrest began checking off stars they saw in their telescope.

PAUL
They didn't have to look long to find an uncharted star that turned out to be a new planet.

RACHEL
Neptune is gas giant that's almost four times larger than earth.

KRIS
It orbits the sun at a distance thirty times greater than earth's.

RACHEL
This creates a year on Neptune lasting 163 earth years long.

KRIS
So Neptune has yet to make one complete orbit around the sun since its discovery.

PAUL
Neptune's largest moon is named Triton and it has a very thin atmosphere.

RACHEL
The Voyage 2 spacecraft detected a geyser erupting on the Triton. That's pretty surprising for a moon that's very cold.

KRIS
Most likely, Triton did not form with Neptune. Instead it escaped from the Kuiper Belt.

RACHEL
So Triton is probably very similar to Pluto.

KRIS
And we'll know for sure next decade when the New Horizon spacecraft zips past Pluto.

PAUL
Thirty-five years ago on the 28th, the Soviet Union launched Luna 19.

RACHEL
Luna 19 was an unmanned space probe sent into orbit around the moon.

KRIS
It carried no cameras. Instead it studied the lunar magnetic field, radiation, and micro-meteoroids.

RACHEL
So basically the space probe was sent to make sure it was safe for humans to visit the moon.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the 30th at four AM.

KRIS
So the end of the month and beginning of October will be a great time to go moon watching.

RACHEL
It doesn't take much optical magnification to enjoy the features of the moon. You can even use binoculars. But be sure to steady them against a stationary object like a tree or car.

KRIS
Your lunar views will be better with a little more magnification. But even as little as 25 power is enough.

RACHEL
Setting your telescope's magnification too high magnifies the rotation of earth too much. This makes the moon drift out of the telescope's view of view too fast.

KRIS
That's Idaho Skies for the fourth week of September. Join us next month to hear about the space and astronomy events for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is KrisÖ

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico. Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio.

Transcript: 18-22 September

2006-09-23T08:06:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Starting on the 21st, the Zodiacal Light is visible for the next two weeks.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is caused by sunlight reflecting off dust in orbit around the sun.

KRIS
The dust is created by the collision of asteroids and from comet tails.

RACHEL
In dark skies, the Zodiacal Light appears as a tall triangle of faint light.

KRIS
You'll find it rising out of the east and it will have a noticeable tilt to the south. In dark skies it can reach half way to the zenith.

RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is as bright as the beginning of twilight. But unlike twilight, the Zodiacal Light doesn't lie along the horizon.

KRIS
To see sunlight reflecting off dust in our solar system, look to the east more than an hour before sunrise.

PAUL
Since the sun rises at 7:30 AM, you'll need to be out before 6:30 AM.

RACHEL
Dark adapted eyes are best for viewing the Zodiacal Light, so plan to spend at least 15 minutes outside.

KRIS
One of the best places to see the Zodiacal Light is from the dark skies at Craters of the Moon. And they're having a star party this weekend.

PAUL
The moon is at apogee on the 21st at ten PM. Its distance, which is the greatest for this month, is 252 thousand, 500 miles.

KRIS
That's a lot compared to distances on earth. Even the Apollo astronauts took about three days or 72 hours to cover that distance.

RACHEL
But compared to the rest of the solar system, it's just peanuts. Why the sun is 368 times farther away than that.

KRIS
But if you had to walk to the moon, it would take you until the end of May in 2016 to get there.

RACHEL
Just imagine how many tennis shoes you would go through in that time.

PAUL
It's autumn on the 22nd at ten PM.

RACHEL
The moment autumn begins; the earth is at the autumnal equinox, or that point in its orbit that puts the sun directly over the equator.

KRIS
The word equinox means equal night and it refers to the fact that the day and night are equally long.

RACHEL
This is true for every location on earth. Although technically, refraction by the atmosphere will make the sun rise a few minutes earlier and set a few minutes later.

KRIS
If you could watch our earth from deep space, you'd see that during most of the year the terminator, or boundary between day and night, never passes over the earth's poles.

RACHEL
Instead the terminator would usually be tilted, giving one hemisphere more than 12 hours of sunlight and the opposite hemisphere less than 12 hours.

PAUL
Only at the equator would there always be 12 hours of sunlight.

KRIS
But at the equinox the terminator runs from pole to pole, giving every location on earth 12 hours of day light.

RACHEL
This can only occur at the moment when the earth's rotation axis is tipped neither towards nor away from the sun.

KRIS
And that happens twice each year, at the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn.

RACHEL
So enjoy today's equal day and night. For the next six months, the nights will be longer than the day.

KRIS
That's far better than it is at the North Pole. There the sun is setting for the next six months.

RACHEL
And that's Idaho Skies for the third week of September. Next week our topic is the first planet X.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Transcript: 11-15 September

2006-09-16T08:05:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Forty years ago on the 12th, astronauts Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon were rocketed into space.

KRIS
Conrad and Gordon were launched onboard the two-man Gemini 11. This was the second to last Gemini mission.

RACHEL
The goals of Gemini 11 were to dock with a second spacecraft and practice spacewalking.

KRIS
Their docking with the Agena rocket was very successful and again demonstrated that the Apollo astronauts would be able to successfully dock.

RACHEL
The Agena carried its own rocket engine. So after docking with it, the Gemini 11 astronauts fired its engine and placed themselves into a much higher orbit.

KRIS
They reached an altitude of over 800 miles. That's higher than any astronauts have every orbited the earth. Only the Apollo astronauts have traveled higher.

RACHEL
While the docking worked as planned, the same cannot be said about their spacewalk.

KRIS
Space walks, or EVAs, were far more difficult than NASA anticipated.

RACHEL
EVA stands for extravehicular activity and the term sounds far more professional than space walking.

KRIS
The reason EVAs were so difficult is that the Gemini space suits were not nearly flexible enough once they were pressurized.

RACHEL
Also the environmental controls inside the suit were primitive compared to the Apollo and Space Shuttle suits.

KRIS
Because of their spacesuit's stiffness, Gemini astronauts had to exert a lot of effort just to do simple tasks.

RACHEL
Every time they bent am arm or leg, it decreased the volume of their spacesuit and increased its pressure resisting their bending.

PAUL
The astronauts could get dangerously hot trying to move around in their suits if they weren't careful.

KRIS
Because of the coldness of space, the visors of their space helmets would fog up from their perspiration, making it difficult to see.

RACHEL
Today's Space Shuttle astronauts wear a water cooled garment beneath their far more flexible space suits.

KRIS
So Shuttle astronauts can easily work for eight hours in their space suits. That's far better then the Gemini astronauts of forty years ago.

PAUL
But the Space Shuttle suits are not designed for walking on moons or planets.

RACHEL
That's because their boots are not durable enough and their back packs are too heavy.

KRIS
So NASA is working on new designs for planetary suits.

RACHEL
These will be lighter and have easy to maintain features.

KRIS
That's important when you consider how abrasive the dust on the moon and Mars will be to things like zippers.

PAUL
The moon is at last quarter on the morning of the 14th.

RACHEL
Therefore the moon is only visible after midnight and it sets by noon.

KRIS
That's perfect for next week's star party at the Craters of the Moon.

PAUL
It's held on Friday and Saturday, the 22nd and 23rd.

RACHEL
You can find out more information at the Idaho Falls Astronomical Society website, www.IFAstro.org.

KRIS
The star party is free once you pay admission to the park.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the second week of September. Join us next week to learn about the Zodiacal Light and Autumnal Equinox.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

Transcript: 4-8 September

2006-09-09T08:01:00.000-06:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the first week of September. W'e're your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is full on the 7th.

RACHEL
What makes this month's full moon special is that the moon is also near perigee, or at its closest distance to earth this month.

KRIS
Therefore September's full moon is larger than any other full moon in 2006.

RACHEL
September's large full moon is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to begin astrophotography, or taking photographs of astronomical objects.

PAUL
All you need is a camera with a telephoto lens and tripod.

KRIS
Use at least a 200 millimeter telephoto lens with your camera. If you use a shorter focal length lens, the moon's image will be too small in your pictures.

RACHEL
The full moon is so bright that your camera's exposure time is very short. The short exposure time is the reason why you only need a camera tripod and not a telescope mount to photograph the moon.

KRIS
The exposure time should be less than one second. But bracket your exposure times to improve your chances of getting a good photograph.

PAUL
Bracketing means to take several exposures with each exposure set for a different length of time.

RACHEL
After you get a photograph of this full moon write down the camera and lens you used. Then use the same equipment to take another picture of the full moon next year.

KRIS
When you compare the size of the moon images to each other, you'll see that this month's full moon is definitely larger.

PAUL
Besides seeing a large full moon, the earth also experiences larger than average tides.

RACHEL
The closeness of the full moon increases its gravitational pull.

KRIS
But more importantly, it also increases the difference in the force of lunar gravity between the near and far sides of the earth.

PAUL
It's the difference in gravity across the earth that is responsible from raising tides.

RACHEL
So if the moon and sun's gravity was the same on opposite sides of earth, there would be no tides at all.

PAUL
Hey! Guess what's forty years old on the 8th? Star Trek.

KRIS
Star Trek was created by Gene Roddenberry. His show depicted a futuristic human society that had solved most of their problems and were boldly exploring the galaxy.

RACHEL
By placing topics on strange new worlds, Roddenberry could address science and social issues of the day in a non-threatening manner.

PAUL
It was a good way to get controversial subjects past network censors.

KRIS
You can learn more about this pop phenomenon at the Memory Alpha website, memory dash alpha dot org

PAUL
The Boise Astronomical Society holds it monthly meeting on Friday, the 8th

RACHEL
B-A-S meetings are held at the Discovery Center of Idaho and begin at 7:30 PM.

PAUL
If you're visiting Twin Falls, you can attend the Magic Valley Astronomical Society meeting on Saturday the 9th.

KRIS
M-V-A-S meetings are held at the C-S-I campus in the Herrett Center.

RACHEL
Meetings begin at seven PM and are followed by a star party at the Herrett Center observatory.

KRIS
The Centennial Observatory has the largest handicap accessible telescope in Idaho and admission is free.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the first week of September. Join us next week when our topics are Gemini 11 and space suit design.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

transcript: 28 August - 1 September

2006-09-01T17:08:00.000-06:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the last week of August. Weíre your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the twenty-fifth anniversary of Voyager twoís flyby of the planet Saturn. Currently, Voyager two is located at the outer edge of our solar system.

RACHEL
The first four spacecraft to leave our solar system were the Pioneer ten and eleven and the Voyager one and two.

KRIS
Because these spacecraft would eventually travel to the stars, astronomers, including Carl Sagan, designed monuments to earth for these spacecraft

RACHEL
Pioneer ten and eleven carried simple six by nine inch plaques inscribed with drawings of a man and woman. There are also several diagrams showing the location of our planet and its solar system.

KRIS
In case Voyager two or its twin Voyager one is discovered by intelligent life in the distant future, both spacecraft carry a phonograph record.

PAUL
The records carry much more information than the Pioneer plaques.

RACHEL
Recorded on them are selections of famous music and some of the sounds from some of the animals of earth.

KRIS
There are also images of our technology and the biology of earth.

RACHEL
The Voyager records are predicted to survive in a playable state for another one billion years.

KRIS
Therefore Saganís monument to earth and humanity will out survive life on our little blue planet. That is unless humans do something to prevent the sun from making the earth uninhabitable in the next few hundred million years.

PAUL
The moon is at first quarter on the thirty-first at five PM.

RACHEL
That means its time to begin moon watching again. So get those binoculars or telescope out.

KRIS
And while youíre moon watching, invite your neighbors over.

PAUL
Thirty years ago on the third of September, Viking two landed on Mars.

RACHEL
Viking two was the second successful landing on Mars.

KRIS
Viking two landed at Utopia Planitia, or the Plains of Utopia at nine-fifty AM, local time.

RACHEL
Upon landing, the Viking landers immediately began transmitting an image of one of their footpads. Just in case the Viking two was sinking in Martian quicksand, JPL wanted to know before the landers sank out of sight.

KRIS
Scientists back on earth noticed that one of the Viking two landing legs set down on top of a rock. This gave the lander a noticeable tilt.

RACHEL
Measurements of the Martian surface show it to be an iron-rich clay. The yellow-orange color of the Martian surface is due to the presence of oxidized iron.

PAUL
Hey, thatís rust.

KRIS
On winter nights, the air temperature on the Plains of Utopia can drop to minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit.

RACHEL
Or ninety degrees colder than Antarctica, the coldest place on earth.

KRIS
On summer days, it can warm up to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit, a noticeable improvement.

RACHEL
Viking two ended its communications with earth on April eleventh, 1980.

KRIS
This was an unplanned shut down of Viking two. Commands sent to the lander accidentally told it to point its antenna to the ground.

PAUL
Rather than towards earth, where we could communicate with it.

RACHEL
Thatís Idaho Skies for the last week of August. Join us next month when we will bring you the news of the space and astronomy events in Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is RachelÖ

KRIS
..KrisÖ

PAUL
.. and Paul.

transcript: 21-25 August

2006-08-29T17:05:00.000-06:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the fourth week of August. Weíre your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is new on the 23rd.

KRIS
Now weíll have some dark skies at night again. Unfortunately, this is also when school is starting back up

RACHEL
So teachers like Paul wonít be able to take as much advantage of the darker night sky.

PAUL
Hereís another piece of lunar informationÖ the moonís at apogee on the 25th.

KRIS
Apogee is the point in a satelliteís orbit that is its greatest distance from earth.

RACHEL
This month the moon is 252 thousand 443 miles away at apogee. Thatís almost 29 thousand miles farther than it was on the tenth which is when the moon was at perigee.

PAUL
Venus passes just Ω degree from Saturn on the morning of the 26th.

KRIS
Venus and Saturn will be very low in the twilight sky. So your best time to see them is around 6:15 AM.

RACHEL
If you go out much earlier than 6:15 theyíll be too low to the horizon. And if you go out later than 6:15 the sky will be getting too bright.

KRIS
Venus is the bright star about three finger widths above the east-northeast horizon.
Saturn will be the fainter star located just below Venus. Be sure to use binoculars for the best view.

PAUL
Wow, wonít they look close together?

RACHEL
Yes, but Saturn is on the far side of the sun and climbing higher above the horizon every day.

KRIS
Venus on the other hand is on the near side of the sun and getting closer to the horizon every day.

PAUL
The third spacecraft to visit Saturn flew past the ringed planet a quarter century ago on the 26th.

RACHEL
Voyager two is one of our most remarkable spacecraft. It visited the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and is still going strong.

KRIS
Along with its twin, Voyager one, itís returning data on the space between our solar system and the stars.

RACHEL
The Voyagers are now embarked on what NASA calls the Voyager Interstellar Mission, or V-I-M. We may continue to hear from Voyager two until the year twenty-twenty when its radioactive power source grows too weak to power the spacecraft.

PAUL
By then however, it will have left our solar system and have entered interstellar space.

KRIS
The distances between the stars are vast and the sizes of the stars are tiny compared to their spacing. Therefore Voyager 2 will most likely travel the galaxy without colliding with a star or planet for as long as the galaxy exists.

RACHEL
Voyager 2 is traveling at a speed of 306 million miles per year. Thatís just over three times the average distance between the earth and sun.

KRIS
Astronomers call the average distance between the earth and sun an Astronomical Unit, or AU.

RACHEL
So traveling at a speed of three point three Astronomical Units per year, Voyager two will not make a close approach to a star until the year 298 thousand AD.

PAUL
I wonder where weíll be by then.

KRIS
The first star Voyager two will pass is Sirius, the brightest star in our sky.

RACHEL
Currently we are eight point six light years from Sirius. But in 298 thousand AD, Voyager two will only be four point three light years from Sirius.

KRIS
This means Sirius will appear four times brighter to Voyager two than it does to us now.

RACHEL
Weíll have more about Voyager two next week.

KRIS
Thatís Idaho Skies for the fourth week of August. Join us next week to hear our twoís show. Voyager two and Viking two.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris

RACHEL
..Rachel

PAUL
.. and Paul.

transcript: 14-18 August

2006-08-19T17:41:00.000-06:00

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies on Radio Boise. This is the third week of August. Weíre your hosts, Paul..

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
The moon is at third quarter on the 15th.

RACHEL
At third quarter the western half of the moon is visible. This half of the moon is largely filled with maria and the largest one is named the Ocean of Storms.

KRIS
The Ocean of Storms is 1,200 miles from north to south. Thatís almost half the distance across the United States.

PAUL
The maria formed after large meteoroids crashed into the lunar surface.

RACHEL
The deep crater and the cracks created by the impact let magma, or lava, flow out of the lunar crust.

KRIS
At 1200 miles across, you know a lot of lava had to erupt out of the moon.

RACHEL
Initially the Ocean of Storms may have looked like our Craters of the Moon.

KRIS
So think of the Ocean of Storms as a national monument covering almost half the United State.

RACHEL
There seems to be fewer interesting things to see on the third quarter moon, when compared to first quarter. But if youíre up late, why not take a look at the moon at a phase that most people donít see.

PAUL
Speaking of the moon, itís very close to the Pleiades on the morning of the 16th.

KRIS
The best view is before sunrise, so plan to take a peek at 5:30 AM. If you wait any later, the morning twilight will begin to interfere.

RACHEL
This grouping between the moon and Pleiades is a perfect sight for your binoculars.

PAUL
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, there are two star parties for you to attend this month.

KRIS
The first and largest is the Oregon Star Party, or OSP.

RACHEL
It runs from the 24th to the 27th and is held at the Ochoco National Forest. Thatís located close to mid state Oregon.

PAUL
This is the largest star party in the Pacific Northwest. So if you have a chance, donít miss it.

KRIS
Thereís more information at their website, www.oregonstarparty.org.

PAUL
The second star party is much closer to Home, Mountain Home that is.

RACHEL
The Idaho Star Party, or ISP, takes place from the 25th to the 27th at Bruneau Dunes State Park, near Mountain Home, Idaho.

KRIS
This is the perfect star party for your family. Itís close enough to Boise that traveling there is very convenient.

RACHEL
Thereís more information on this star party at the B-A-S website, www.boiseastro.org.

KRIS
These star parties take place at locations with the darkest skies around. And theyíre great places to learn about astronomy and telescopes.

RACHEL
Often there are vendors at star parties. So if you attend one of them, youíll get to see some of the latest in astronomy equipment.

KRIS
At night there will be dozens of telescopes pointing skyward. You can spend your night looking at so many astronomical objects that it would make Galileo jealous.

RACHEL
Of course these amateurs wonít be waking up very early in the morning.

PAUL
Say, wouldnít astronomy be the perfect hobby for Dracula?

RACHEL AND KRIS
Uh, yah. What ever Paul.

KRIS
And that was Idaho Skies for the third week of August. Next week weíll discuss Venus, Saturn, and Voyager 2. For Idaho Skies this is Kris...

PAUL
..Paul..

RACHEL
.. and Rachel.

Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Boise Community Radio. Dark skies and bright stars.

Dracula!!

transcript: 7 - 11 August

2006-08-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the tenth anniversary of the discovery that the Martian meteorite AHL84001 may contain evidence for life on Mars.

KRIS
AHL84001 got its name because it was the first meteorite discovered in the Alan Hills of Antarctica in 1984.

RACHEL
It was a potato-sized rock that turned out to be from Mars.

KRIS
Inside the rock were tiny globules of carbonates similar to limestone on earth. On earth, carbonates usually form in the presence of water, but not always.

RACHEL
Inside the carbonate globules researchers discovered organic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs.

KRIS
PAHs are created by life on earth. But they're also found in things decidedly unlife-like, car exhaust for example.

RACHEL
But the PAHs in AHL84001 were found to come in a few specific sizes, rather than in many random sizes. And that's something life is good at producing.

KRIS
Also inside the carbonate globules were tiny crystals of iron sulfide and iron oxide. Each of these compounds is created by life on earth, but also by some non-organic processes.

PAUL
It was their size, shape, and close association with each other that lead researchers to conclude that they were evidence for life.

RACHEL
Finally, NASA researchers presented electron microscope images of what appeared to be fossil remains of bacteria in the carbonate globules.

KRIS
These possible fossils were much smaller than bacteria on earth today. So some have suggested they presented the fossil remains of nanobes, or nano-sized versions of microbes.

RACHEL
As of today, few if any biologists are convinced that the evidence contained in AHL84001 is sufficient to support the conclusion of past Martian life.

KRIS
So we may just have to go to Mars and find out for ourselves if there was once life.

PAUL
You can find Uranus in binoculars on the night of the tenth and morning of the eleventh.

RACHEL
Uranus is the seventh planet of the solar system and was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope.

PAUL
Its discovery made astronomer William Hershel famous.

KRIS
On the night of the tenth you can discover Uranus for yourself.

RACHEL
The planet is the brightest star two lunar diameters above the moon.

KRIS
You only need binoculars to see the planet. But if you use a telescope, even a small one, you'll see that the planet has a disk and is not at all star-like.

PAUL
The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of the eleventh and morning of the twelfth.

RACHEL
Normally this is the best meteor shower of the year. But this year's nearly full moon lights up the night sky, especially after midnight when the meteor shower is at its best.

KRIS
However, if you're already camping, I'd still recommend watching it.

RACHEL
That's because the Perseids can produce some very bright meteors that the moon's light can't wipe out.

PAUL
I've seen some very brightest meteors from this shower.

KRIS
And there you have it, straight from the Street Astronomer's mouth.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the second week of August. Join us next week when we'll talk about star parties and the Ocean of Storms.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel.

PAUL
..Paul..

KRIS
.. and Kris.

transcript: 31 July - 4 Aug

2006-08-05T16:24:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Early August is a fine time to watch meteors.

RACHEL
A mild meteor shower peaks on the night of the first and morning of the second. These are called the Alpha Capricornids and they tend to be slow meteors.

KRIS
The Alpha Capricornids produce an average of six meteors per hour. However, this meteor shower also produces some of the brightest meteors you're likely to see from a regular meteor shower.

RACHEL
Other meteor showers are active at the beginning of August, so you'll see more than just the six Alpha Capricornids per hour tonight.

KRIS
After midnight is the best time to watch meteors. Since the moon is first quarter tomorrow, it sets before midnight giving us darker skies when the meteor shower is at its best.

RACHEL
For the best view of the Alpha Capricornids, just lie down on a blanket and look up.

PAUL
The Russians celebrate a space anniversary on the sixth.

KRIS
That's right. The second cosmonaut sent into earth orbit was launched 45 years ago in 1961.

RACHEL
Gherman Titov was launched onboard the Vostok two spacecraft. And unlike the previous three humans in space, Titov spent an entire day in orbit.

KRIS
Titov also has the distinction of being the first person to suffer from space sickness, a condition brought about by the body's reaction to weightlessness.

RACHEL
Vostok two would be Titov's only flight into space.

PAUL
August's second meteor shower peaks on the night of the sixth and morning of the seventh.

KRIS
The Southern Iota Aquarids is another weak shower. As its name implies, there's also a northern branch called the Northern Iota Aquarids. But it peaks next week

RACHEL
The currently active Alpha Capricornid meteor shower, combined with the Southern Iota Aquarids, and the soon to peak Northern Iota Aquarids and Perseids, means the night sky will be pretty active with shooting stars over the next few weeks.

PAUL
I hear there's a recent astronomical anniversary this week.

KRIS
That's right Paul. Ten years ago on the tenth, NASA held a news conference about a meteor that had been found in the Alan Hills of Antarctica.

PAUL
I know researchers have found more meteorites in Antarctica than anywhere else on earth. But what made this meteorite so special?

RACHEL
After some investigation, a research team concluded that this meteorite from Mars contained evidence for life on Mars.

KRIS
This conclusion was based on several lines of evidence. But no single piece of evidence by itself is good enough to prove the existence of life on Mars.

RACHEL
But we'll have to discuss this evidence next week.

PAUL
Looking for a local astronomy club?

KRIS
The Boise Astronomical Society meets on the second Friday of every month. And this month they meet on the eleventh.

RACHEL
The B-A-S is a club for new and experience amateur astronomers. If you're thinking of purchasing a telescope, then visit with the members of B-A-S first for advice and help.

KRIS
B-A-S meetings are held at the Discovery Center of Idaho and start at seven-thirty PM. Look for the B-A-S sign by the door in back of the Discovery Center.

PAUL
You'll find more information at their webpage, www.boiseastro.org.

KRIS
That's Idaho Skies for the first week of August. Join us next week when we'll talk about AHL84001 and how you can find the planet Uranus.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris.

RACHEL
..Rachel..

PAUL
.. and Paul.

transcript: 24 - 28 July

2006-07-25T14:58:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
Last week was the anniversary of Gus Grissom’s flight on Liberty Bell 7.

RACHEL
If you’ve watched the movie, the Right Stuff, you’ll get the impression that people thought Gus was to blame for the sinking of his spacecraft.

KRIS
The truth is that after a thorough investigation, NASA could find no evidence that Gus was responsible for the hatch blowing open.

RACHEL
In fact, it’s quite likely that the helicopter hovering near Liberty Bell 7 was responsible for the mishap.

KRIS
In 1999 Liberty Bell 7 was finally recovered from the ocean bottom by a team lead by Curt Newport.

RACHEL
He’s the man who also led the expedition to find the Titanic.

KRIS
The Liberty Bell 7 display travels on occasion. So perhaps someday Idahoans will be able to see it close to home.

PAUL
We celebrate another space anniversary on the 26th.

KRIS
In 1971 the crew of Apollo 15 was launched to the Hadley-Apennine region of the moon.

RACHEL
The Apennines are the name of a lunar mountain range. They were created over three billion years ago by a massive meteor impact.

KRIS
Did you know that Apollo 15 was the first moon crew to carry an electric moon buggy?

RACHEL
The Lunar Roving Vehicle allowed the astronauts to explore much more of the moon than they could by walking.

KRIS
But they always made sure the LRV was within walking distance of the lunar module at all times.

PAUL
That’s insurance in case the LRV broke down.

RACHEL
Unfortunately, a stroll on the moon can kill you, if you don’t have enough oxygen.

KRIS
Apollo 15 returned a total of 169 pounds of lunar rocks and dust to earth.

PAUL
A meteor shower peaks the night of the 29th and morning of the 30th.

RACHEL
Now this is not the only night you can see them. So plan to watch them for several days around the 29th.

KRIS
Meteors from the Aquarids will appear to originate in the low southeast after midnight.

PAUL
You may see up to twenty meteors per hour from this shower.

RACHEL
The moon was new earlier this week, so moonlight will not interfere with this shower.

KRIS
Because of its low elevation above the horizon, the shower is better if you watch it from the southern hemisphere. So now is the time to plan that camping trip to Australia.

RACHEL
But wait! Isn’t it winter in Australia now?

KRIS
Oops. That could be a problem.

PAUL
The moon is at its greatest distance from earth on the 29th at seven AM.

RACHEL
At a distance of 251 thousand, 907 miles, it’s still a bit of a drive to get there.

PAUL
It’s taken me five years to drive my car that distance.

FADE IN MUSIC

KRIS
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of July. Join us next month when we will bring you news of another meteor shower and the flight of the second cosmonaut. Listen to Idaho Skies to hear about the space and astronomical events for Idaho and beyond.

For Idaho Skies this is Kris

RACHEL
..Rachel

PAUL
.. and Paul.

Our sound engineer this month was Gwen Sanchirico.

transcript: 17 - 21 July

2006-07-25T14:56:00.000-06:00

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

RACHEL
..Rachel..

KRIS
..And Kris

PAUL
What promises to be a very attractive celestial alignment takes place on the morning of the 20th.

KRIS
The thin crescent moon will be traveling through the edge of the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters.

RACHEL
The moon rises at two AM, but wait at least one hour for the moon to climb higher above the east-northeast horizon.

KRIS
In binoculars you’ll find the moon immersed in the eastern most edge of the Pleiades.

PAUL
Quick! Which appears larger, the moon or the Pleiades?

RACHEL
If you said the Pleiades, you’re right. The Seven Sisters appear twice the size of the moon.

KRIS
And you’ll be able to prove it to yourself on the morning of the 20th.

PAUL
Thirty years ago on the 20th, the first spacecraft successfully landed on Mars

RACHEL
Viking 1 soft landed on Chryse Planitia, or the Land of Gold.

KRIS
Viking 1 was a two part spacecraft and consisted of an orbiter and a lander.

RACHEL
When Viking 1 arrived in orbit, its superior cameras reveled that the previously selected landing site was too dangerous for the lander.

KRIS
So the pair remained together in orbit while new images were radioed back to earth.

RACHEL
After locating a safer landing site, the lander, safely tucked away inside its bioshield and heat shield, separated from the orbiter and entered the Martian atmosphere.

KRIS
At three and a half miles above the surface, the lander’s parachute deployed and the now useless heat shield dropped away.

RACHEL
Soon after, the lander’s three legs deployed.

KRIS
At about one mile above the ground the Viking 1 lander disconnected from its parachute and finished landing on three rocket engines.

RACHEL
To minimize the disturbance of Martian soil, each rocket engine had a total of 18 nozzles to spread out their rocket blast.

PAUL
Since Viking 1 was America’s first spacecraft to land on Mars, it carried a wide variety of experiments.

KRIS
There were cameras, meteorological, biological, and geological experiments. That’s over 200 pounds of experiments.

RACHEL
Viking 1’s robotic arm scooped up Martian soil and place samples of it into one of three biological experiments.

PAUL
The soil samples reacted just as soil samples laced with bacteria would. So did we discover Martian life?

KRIS
No organic compounds could be detected in the soil samples. Therefore scientists concluded that it was just unusual chemical behavior producing the results.

PAUL
Gus Grissom made his first flight into space 45 years ago on the 21st.

RACHEL
Gus became the second American into space when he rode his Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft on a short suborbital hop.

KRIS
Liberty Bell 7 reached a peak altitude of 118 miles during its 15 minute flight.

RACHEL
Everyone knows Liberty Bell 7 sank after splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.

KRIS
But Thomas Wolfe’s novel, the Right Stuff, is not correct when it blames Gus for the sinking.

PAUL
We’ll have more Liberty Bell 7 next week

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of July. Next week we’ll discuss Apollo 15. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

KRIS
..Kris..

PAUL
.. and Paul.