Idaho Skies
9 December – 15 December
PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the second week of December. We’re your hosts, Paul…
RACHEL
… and Rachel.
PAUL
Hey early birds, the moon passes very close to Spica on the morning of the 9th.
RACHEL
Spica rises around 3:30 AM and will be just over one degree above the moon. That’s a distance of about twice the moon’s diameter.
PAUL
This should be nice in binoculars, especially since the moon is a waning crescent.
RACHEL
The star Spica is the 16th brightest star in the sky and the brightest star of the constellation of Virgo.
PAUL
Spica is 262 light years away from Earth. That means the light you see tonight left the star in the year 1750.
RACHEL
Spica means sheaf of wheat. Virgo is the goddess of harvest, and fittingly, Spica represents the sheaf of wheat she holds in her hand.
PAUL
On the morning of the 10th, the moon is close to Saturn.
RACHEL
Saturn is too distant and too small to be visible in binoculars, except as a star. So your best views of Saturn are through a telescope, even a small one.
PAUL
Saturn will be the brightest star above the moon.
RACHEL
On the morning of the 11th, the moon appears near brilliant Venus.
PAUL
Venus will be bright and easy to see. The thin crescent moon will be difficult.
RACHEL
A pair of binoculars is helpful in finding the very thin crescent moon.
PAUL
First, locate Venus in your binoculars. Venus appears just below the moon and both will fit within the field of view of standard 7 by 50 binoculars.
RACHEL
Look closely and you may be able to locate Mercury much closer to the horizon.
PAUL
The moon is new on the 13th at 2:42 AM.
RACHEL
You need a day or two before the moon appears as a large enough thin crescent to be visible.
PAUL
A nice challenge is to search for the youngest moon. How soon after the new moon can you see it again after sunset?
RACHEL
The youngest new moon seen without optical aid was just under 24 hours old.
PAUL
Since the moon is new, we have a good opportunity to see the Geminid meteor shower.
RACHEL
Dress for the cold if the sky is clear on the night of the 14th. Also, be prepared to spend at least 20 minutes letting your eyes become adapted to the dark.
PAUL
We can expect around 50 meteors per hour from this shower.
RACHEL
Since the constellation Gemini is high above the horizon on December nights, you can begin seeing meteors just after dark. However, if you can wait until 2:00 AM when Gemini is overhead, you might be able to glimpse up to 100 meteors per hour.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of December. Listen next week and we’ll tell you about the winter solstice.
RACHEL
Follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…
PAUL
and Paul.
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Radio Boise 89.9 FM Caldwell/Boise and 93.5 FM downtown, K228EK Garden City.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
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