Transcript for February 24th to March 2nd

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.