RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the last week of February. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
Tick tick tick little star. Ms. Jocelyn Bell was monitoring quasars with radio telescopes in the 1960s with the help of her academic advisor, Antony Hewish.
PAUL
On February 24, 1967, a chart recording from one of her radio telescopes showed a regular radio pulse, one that repeated nearly once per second with astounding regularity.
RACHEL
That level of precision in radio astronomy was unheard of and was potentially the radio signal from an extraterrestrial civilization.
PAUL
In time however, radio telescopes detected additional pulsing signals and astronomers determined that they originated from rapidly spinning neutron stars.
RACHEL
We call them pulsars when we can detect their radio emissions.
PAUL
Neutron stars are the remnants of collapsed stars.
RACHEL
They collapsed because they were too heavy for the star’s electrons to hold them up.
PAUL
As a result, gravity squeezed the star’s electrons and protons into neutrons. The repulsion between neutrons is the only force preventing the star from collapsing into nothing.
RACHEL
The volume inside an atom is more than 99% empty space. Therefore, a one million mile diameter star can collapse into a 20 mile diameter neutron star.
PAUL
The star’s original slow rotation rate must increase tremendously in order to conserve the star’s angular momentum.
RACHEL
That rapid rotation causes the neutron star to rotate thousands of times faster.
PAUL
Jocelyn Bell did not receive a Nobel Prize in Physics for her discovery of neutron stars. However, her academic advisor did.
RACHEL
Are you curious to hear what a neutron star sounds like?
PAUL
This is a recording of the radio signal emitted by the pulsar in Crab Nebula in Taurus.
SN1054 SOUND FILE
RACHEL
The Chinese saw the supernova explosion that created this pulsar in the year 1054.
PAUL
Nearly a thousand years later, the neutron star spins 30 times per second.
RACHEL
The moon is full on the 25th.
PAUL
The full moon in February is called the Snow Moon.
RACHEL
The Snow Moon passes just below a bright star three nights later, late on the night of the 28th.
PAUL
The star is Spica, the alpha star of the constellation Virgo.
RACHEL
Spica is 77 light years away and the 16th brightest star in the sky.
PAUL
The spacing between Spica and the moon will be just over half a degree.
RACHEL
Bring your binoculars with you for the best view.
PAUL
You will need to go outside after 11 PM.
RACHEL
The waning gibbous moon will appear low in the east, with Spica just above it.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the last week of February. Next week, we’ll discuss the astronomical events that Idahoans can enjoy during the month of March.
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.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Transcript for February 17 - 23
PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the third week of February. We’re your hosts, Paul…
RACHEL
…and Rachel.
PAUL
The moon passes between two star clusters and a planet on the night of the 17th.
RACHEL
Look high up in the sky after dark and you will see the Pleiades to the moon’s upper right and the Hyades to the moon’s left.
PAUL
Our solar system’s grandest planet, Jupiter, is the bright star above the moon.
RACHEL
This should be an attractive sight through your binoculars.
PAUL
The Idaho Falls Astronomical Society meets on the 19th.
RACHEL
The club holds its meeting at the Skyline Activity Center in Idaho Falls at 7 PM.
PAUL
Hey, Nicolaus Copernicus was born 540 years ago on the 19th.
RACHEL
Copernicus was a Polish cleric and astronomer who studied law and medicine before returning to Poland.
PAUL
A well educated 15th century man like Copernicus was familiar with the structure of the universe as proposed and perfected by the ancient Greeks.
RACHEL
We call this model of the solar system the geocentric model because it places Earth at the center of the universe.
PAUL
This was an obvious arrangement because we can see that the world is large and massive.
RACHEL
The motions of the sun, moon, and planets also seemed to support Earth’s central location.
PAUL
However, Copernicus developed justifications for putting the sun in the center of the universe. This is called the heliocentric model.
RACHEL
Copernicus was not the first person to develop a heliocentric model. Aristarchus, a Greek, proposed this model nearly 1500 years earlier.
PAUL
By Copernicus’ time, astronomers had long recognized the inability of the geocentric model to make accurate predictions about the planets’ positions.
RACHEL
Astronomers were therefore more willing to accept Copernicus’ arguments for a sun-centered universe.
PAUL
While Copernicus’ model made sense from a mathematical perspective, it still failed to predict accurate planetary positions.
RACHEL
That’s because his proposed planetary orbits were still circular. Since the planets actually orbit the sun in elliptical orbits, Copernicus’ heliocentric model was not able to predict planetary positions any better than the previous model.
PAUL
The Whittenberger Planetarium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell is again open to the public.
RACHEL
The presentation this month is about Mars and Mercury and begins at 7 PM on the 20th.
PAUL
You will need to make reservations to attend a planetarium show. So contact Kinga at 459-5211.
RACHEL
You’ll find more information at their website, www.collegeofidaho.edu/planetarium.
PAUL
Here’s a planetarium show for our listeners in eastern Idaho.
RACHEL
The planetarium is located on the BYU Idaho campus in Rexburg.
PAUL
The presentation is on the dawn of the space age and shows on the 21st.
RACHEL
The planetarium is located in room 107 of the Romney Science Building.
PAUL
Doors open at 6:30 and the show begins at 7 PM.
RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of February. Next week, it’s the 46th anniversary of the discovery of pulsars. We’ll also tell you about a very close passage between the star Spica and the moon.
PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps. For Idaho Skies this is Paul…
RACHEL
and Rachel.
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Radio Boise 89.9 FM Caldwell/Boise and 93.5 FM downtown, K228EK Garden City.
PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the third week of February. We’re your hosts, Paul…
RACHEL
…and Rachel.
PAUL
The moon passes between two star clusters and a planet on the night of the 17th.
RACHEL
Look high up in the sky after dark and you will see the Pleiades to the moon’s upper right and the Hyades to the moon’s left.
PAUL
Our solar system’s grandest planet, Jupiter, is the bright star above the moon.
RACHEL
This should be an attractive sight through your binoculars.
PAUL
The Idaho Falls Astronomical Society meets on the 19th.
RACHEL
The club holds its meeting at the Skyline Activity Center in Idaho Falls at 7 PM.
PAUL
Hey, Nicolaus Copernicus was born 540 years ago on the 19th.
RACHEL
Copernicus was a Polish cleric and astronomer who studied law and medicine before returning to Poland.
PAUL
A well educated 15th century man like Copernicus was familiar with the structure of the universe as proposed and perfected by the ancient Greeks.
RACHEL
We call this model of the solar system the geocentric model because it places Earth at the center of the universe.
PAUL
This was an obvious arrangement because we can see that the world is large and massive.
RACHEL
The motions of the sun, moon, and planets also seemed to support Earth’s central location.
PAUL
However, Copernicus developed justifications for putting the sun in the center of the universe. This is called the heliocentric model.
RACHEL
Copernicus was not the first person to develop a heliocentric model. Aristarchus, a Greek, proposed this model nearly 1500 years earlier.
PAUL
By Copernicus’ time, astronomers had long recognized the inability of the geocentric model to make accurate predictions about the planets’ positions.
RACHEL
Astronomers were therefore more willing to accept Copernicus’ arguments for a sun-centered universe.
PAUL
While Copernicus’ model made sense from a mathematical perspective, it still failed to predict accurate planetary positions.
RACHEL
That’s because his proposed planetary orbits were still circular. Since the planets actually orbit the sun in elliptical orbits, Copernicus’ heliocentric model was not able to predict planetary positions any better than the previous model.
PAUL
The Whittenberger Planetarium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell is again open to the public.
RACHEL
The presentation this month is about Mars and Mercury and begins at 7 PM on the 20th.
PAUL
You will need to make reservations to attend a planetarium show. So contact Kinga at 459-5211.
RACHEL
You’ll find more information at their website, www.collegeofidaho.edu/planetarium.
PAUL
Here’s a planetarium show for our listeners in eastern Idaho.
RACHEL
The planetarium is located on the BYU Idaho campus in Rexburg.
PAUL
The presentation is on the dawn of the space age and shows on the 21st.
RACHEL
The planetarium is located in room 107 of the Romney Science Building.
PAUL
Doors open at 6:30 and the show begins at 7 PM.
RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of February. Next week, it’s the 46th anniversary of the discovery of pulsars. We’ll also tell you about a very close passage between the star Spica and the moon.
PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps. For Idaho Skies this is Paul…
RACHEL
and Rachel.
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Radio Boise 89.9 FM Caldwell/Boise and 93.5 FM downtown, K228EK Garden City.
PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Transcript for February 10th to 16th
RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the second week of February. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
The moon is new just after midnight on the 10th.
PAUL
This is why the faint Zodiacal Light remains visible for the first half of February.
RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is a faint band of sunlight rising from the west after it gets dark.
PAUL
The sunlight in this case is reflection from interplanetary dust orbiting the sun.
RACHEL
You need to go outside an hour or more after sunset to see it. Be sure to observe from a dark location. The Zodiacal Light appears like the first light of dawn, except that it forms a pillar rising out of the west.
PAUL
The Zodiacal Light is also known as the false dawn.
RACHEL
The dust making up the Zodiacal Light is tiny. On average, it would take 10 grains stacked end to end to span the width of a human hair
PAUL
Mercury is climbing higher in the western sky for the next week.
RACHEL
If you want to see Mercury, look for it near the thin crescent moon on the evening of the 11th.
PAUL
The moon is less than two days old and a little bit above Mercury.
RACHEL
Since the moon and Mercury won’t be very far from the sun, they will be close to the horizon when the sky finally gets dark.
PAUL
So use binoculars and scan the west-southwest sky at around 7:00 PM. By 7:30, the pair will have descended too close to the horizon for your binoculars to find them.
RACHEL
Astronomer Fritz Zwicky would be 115 years old on the 14th.
PAUL
Fritz was a Swiss astronomer at Cal Tech. He coined the term supernova for the massive stars that collapse and end their lives in titanic explosions.
RACHEL
He also determined that supernovas collapse to form neutron stars.
PAUL
However, we know him better for his discovery about galaxies and the motions of their stars.
RACHEL
After measuring how fast stars orbit their galaxies, Fritz calculated the required mass of the parent galaxy.
PAUL
This led to his discovery that the number of stars within galaxies is too small to hold galaxies together by their gravity.
RACHEL
He reasoned that we were observing galaxies in the process of breaking up, which is very unlikely given the number of observable galaxies.
PAUL
Or equally unlikely, galaxies actually contain four times more matter than the number of stars lead us to believe.
RACHEL
Virtually no one listened to Fritz when he first discovered this discrepancy between the apparent mass of galaxies and the rotation rates of the stars within them.
PAUL
Eventually however, astronomers and physicists accepted his second conclusion and named this unseen matter, dark matter.
RACHEL
Dark matter is currently a subject of intense research.
PAUL
Cosmology suggests that around 80% of the matter in the universe is invisible to us. That is, it does not emit light or shine in reflected light.
RACHEL
Apparently, dark matter’s sole interaction with the matter that we are familiar with is through gravity.
PAUL
Imagine that. The world of matter we are familiar with only accounts for 20 percent of the mass of the universe.
RACHEL
Even more strange, the amount of matter and dark matter in the universe is small compared to the amount of mysterious dark energy that is causing the velocity between galaxies to increase.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of February. Next week, you can observe an attractive grouping of the moon, two star clusters, and a planet. There is also an astronomy club meeting and two planetarium shows.
RACHEL
Follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.
PAUL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies dot blogspot dot com.
For Idaho Skies this is Paul…
RACHEL
and Rachel.
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Radio Boise 89.9 FM Caldwell/Boise and 93.5 FM downtown, K228EK Garden City.
PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the second week of February. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
The moon is new just after midnight on the 10th.
PAUL
This is why the faint Zodiacal Light remains visible for the first half of February.
RACHEL
The Zodiacal Light is a faint band of sunlight rising from the west after it gets dark.
PAUL
The sunlight in this case is reflection from interplanetary dust orbiting the sun.
RACHEL
You need to go outside an hour or more after sunset to see it. Be sure to observe from a dark location. The Zodiacal Light appears like the first light of dawn, except that it forms a pillar rising out of the west.
PAUL
The Zodiacal Light is also known as the false dawn.
RACHEL
The dust making up the Zodiacal Light is tiny. On average, it would take 10 grains stacked end to end to span the width of a human hair
PAUL
Mercury is climbing higher in the western sky for the next week.
RACHEL
If you want to see Mercury, look for it near the thin crescent moon on the evening of the 11th.
PAUL
The moon is less than two days old and a little bit above Mercury.
RACHEL
Since the moon and Mercury won’t be very far from the sun, they will be close to the horizon when the sky finally gets dark.
PAUL
So use binoculars and scan the west-southwest sky at around 7:00 PM. By 7:30, the pair will have descended too close to the horizon for your binoculars to find them.
RACHEL
Astronomer Fritz Zwicky would be 115 years old on the 14th.
PAUL
Fritz was a Swiss astronomer at Cal Tech. He coined the term supernova for the massive stars that collapse and end their lives in titanic explosions.
RACHEL
He also determined that supernovas collapse to form neutron stars.
PAUL
However, we know him better for his discovery about galaxies and the motions of their stars.
RACHEL
After measuring how fast stars orbit their galaxies, Fritz calculated the required mass of the parent galaxy.
PAUL
This led to his discovery that the number of stars within galaxies is too small to hold galaxies together by their gravity.
RACHEL
He reasoned that we were observing galaxies in the process of breaking up, which is very unlikely given the number of observable galaxies.
PAUL
Or equally unlikely, galaxies actually contain four times more matter than the number of stars lead us to believe.
RACHEL
Virtually no one listened to Fritz when he first discovered this discrepancy between the apparent mass of galaxies and the rotation rates of the stars within them.
PAUL
Eventually however, astronomers and physicists accepted his second conclusion and named this unseen matter, dark matter.
RACHEL
Dark matter is currently a subject of intense research.
PAUL
Cosmology suggests that around 80% of the matter in the universe is invisible to us. That is, it does not emit light or shine in reflected light.
RACHEL
Apparently, dark matter’s sole interaction with the matter that we are familiar with is through gravity.
PAUL
Imagine that. The world of matter we are familiar with only accounts for 20 percent of the mass of the universe.
RACHEL
Even more strange, the amount of matter and dark matter in the universe is small compared to the amount of mysterious dark energy that is causing the velocity between galaxies to increase.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of February. Next week, you can observe an attractive grouping of the moon, two star clusters, and a planet. There is also an astronomy club meeting and two planetarium shows.
RACHEL
Follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.
PAUL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies dot blogspot dot com.
For Idaho Skies this is Paul…
RACHEL
and Rachel.
Idaho Skies is a production of NearSys and Radio Boise 89.9 FM Caldwell/Boise and 93.5 FM downtown, K228EK Garden City.
PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Transcript for Febuary 3 - 9
RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the first week of February. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
… and Paul.
RACHEL
After 3:00 a.m. on the 3rd, look for Saturn above the moon.
PAUL
They will be so close that you can see them together in your binoculars.
RACHEL
However, there’s a star that’s even closer to the moon than Saturn.
PAUL
This star is the second brightest star of Libra the Scales. There are two interesting facts about this star.
RACHEL
First is its name, Zubenelgenubi. That’s Arabic for the scorpion’s southern claw.
PAUL
Wait, the constellation of Libra is a scale or balance. So why do we name this star after the scorpion’s claws?
RACHEL
That’s because prior to ancient Rome, the western world considered Libra to be a part of the scorpion. It’s claws specifically.
PAUL
Oh I see. What’s the second interesting fact about Zubenelgenubi?
RACHEL
Zubenelgenubi is also a double star. However, unlike most double stars, the separation between the two stars is so large that people with good eyesight can see them.
PAUL
That means you can easily see Zubenelgenubi as a double star in your binoculars.
RACHEL
The moon is at last quarter on the 3rd.
PAUL
The first and last quarter moons are great binocular objects. The view is even better through a telescope, even a small one.
RACHEL
Idaho’s high power rocketry club meets in Boise on the 6th.
PAUL
Idaho Tripoli meets at the Idaho Pizza on Fairview near Cole at 6:30 PM.
RACHEL
If you have an interest in launching powerful rockets, this is the club meeting to attend.
PAUL
Hey, did you know that BYU Idaho has planetarium shows?
RACHEL
Yes I did, and it’s a great opportunity for our listeners in eastern Idaho to attend a planetarium show.
PAUL
February’s show is about the dawn of the space age. You’ll learn about the early space race between the US and USSR.
RACHEL
The BYU Idaho planetarium is located in room 107 of the Romney Science Building
PAUL
The door opens at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:00 PM on the 7th.
RACHEL
Not long after sunset on the 7th and the 8th, Mars and Mercury appear next to each other very low in the west-southwest.
PAUL
This will be a slightly tough pair to see and you will need a very flat western horizon
RACHEL
You might want to try observing them from higher elevation, like Bogus Basin.
PAUL
You can begin searching for them at 7:00 PM as the sky is getting dark.
RACHEL
Scan the west-southwest horizon with your binoculars. The pair of planets will appear a degree or two above the horizon.
PAUL
There are two astronomy club meetings this week. The first is the Boise Astronomical Society.
RACHEL
The club meets at the Discovery Center of Idaho on the 8th at 7 PM. Look for their sign at the southwest corner of the building.
PAUL
The second is the Magic Valley Astronomical Society, which meets on Saturday the 9th.
RACHEL
The meeting is held at the Herrett Center at CSI and begins at 7 PM.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of February. Listen next week when the moon guides us to Mercury and we celebrate the astronomer who first discovered dark matter.
RACHEL
Be sure to 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.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the first week of February. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
… and Paul.
RACHEL
After 3:00 a.m. on the 3rd, look for Saturn above the moon.
PAUL
They will be so close that you can see them together in your binoculars.
RACHEL
However, there’s a star that’s even closer to the moon than Saturn.
PAUL
This star is the second brightest star of Libra the Scales. There are two interesting facts about this star.
RACHEL
First is its name, Zubenelgenubi. That’s Arabic for the scorpion’s southern claw.
PAUL
Wait, the constellation of Libra is a scale or balance. So why do we name this star after the scorpion’s claws?
RACHEL
That’s because prior to ancient Rome, the western world considered Libra to be a part of the scorpion. It’s claws specifically.
PAUL
Oh I see. What’s the second interesting fact about Zubenelgenubi?
RACHEL
Zubenelgenubi is also a double star. However, unlike most double stars, the separation between the two stars is so large that people with good eyesight can see them.
PAUL
That means you can easily see Zubenelgenubi as a double star in your binoculars.
RACHEL
The moon is at last quarter on the 3rd.
PAUL
The first and last quarter moons are great binocular objects. The view is even better through a telescope, even a small one.
RACHEL
Idaho’s high power rocketry club meets in Boise on the 6th.
PAUL
Idaho Tripoli meets at the Idaho Pizza on Fairview near Cole at 6:30 PM.
RACHEL
If you have an interest in launching powerful rockets, this is the club meeting to attend.
PAUL
Hey, did you know that BYU Idaho has planetarium shows?
RACHEL
Yes I did, and it’s a great opportunity for our listeners in eastern Idaho to attend a planetarium show.
PAUL
February’s show is about the dawn of the space age. You’ll learn about the early space race between the US and USSR.
RACHEL
The BYU Idaho planetarium is located in room 107 of the Romney Science Building
PAUL
The door opens at 6:30 and the show starts at 7:00 PM on the 7th.
RACHEL
Not long after sunset on the 7th and the 8th, Mars and Mercury appear next to each other very low in the west-southwest.
PAUL
This will be a slightly tough pair to see and you will need a very flat western horizon
RACHEL
You might want to try observing them from higher elevation, like Bogus Basin.
PAUL
You can begin searching for them at 7:00 PM as the sky is getting dark.
RACHEL
Scan the west-southwest horizon with your binoculars. The pair of planets will appear a degree or two above the horizon.
PAUL
There are two astronomy club meetings this week. The first is the Boise Astronomical Society.
RACHEL
The club meets at the Discovery Center of Idaho on the 8th at 7 PM. Look for their sign at the southwest corner of the building.
PAUL
The second is the Magic Valley Astronomical Society, which meets on Saturday the 9th.
RACHEL
The meeting is held at the Herrett Center at CSI and begins at 7 PM.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of February. Listen next week when the moon guides us to Mercury and we celebrate the astronomer who first discovered dark matter.
RACHEL
Be sure to 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.
February's Star is Procyon
White dwarfs are aged stars that have consumed their supply of nuclear fuel of hydrogen and helium. Without the energy released from the fusion of hydrogen to support their weight, gravity compresses the stars into spheres the size of planets (about 100 times smaller that they use to be). A cubic centimeter of their compressed matter weighs about a ton. Imagine the weight of a car in a single teaspoon. White dwarf stars consist primarily of the carbon ash left behind from their glory days. With enough pressure, carbon atoms link up into a crystalline form know as diamond. Therefore, it’s possible that many white dwarf stars are giant diamonds in the sky.
Physicists call the matter of white dwarves degenerate. It’s only the reluctance of electrons to be squeezed into one another that keeps these stars from collapsing further. However, if you add more mass to white dwarfs, they would “burn the ash” in their cores into even heavier elements like silicon and iron, and then end their lives as stars collapsed into even smaller objects like neutron stars and black holes. Over billions of years, white dwarfs cool from white, to yellow, then to orange, red, and finally to black. Probably no white dwarf in the universe has had enough time to cool to a black dwarf.
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