Idaho Skies Transcript for March 21st and 22nd

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for March 21st and 22nd. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
The star Aldebaran lies along the ecliptic.

RACHEL
The ecliptic is an imaginary circle in the sky formed by the path of the sun, moon, and planets.

PAUL
This circle is tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to the equator’s projection into the sky.

RACHEL
Since the equator and ecliptic appear as circles on the spherical sky, they cross each other in two points.

PAUL
Those points of intersection are where the sun is located on the equinoxes.

RACHEL
Or the first day of spring and the first day of autumn.

PAUL
And when the sun’s location on the ecliptic is north of the equator, its spring and summer for the Northern hemisphere.

RACHEL
With small exceptions, you’ll always find the sun and planets close to the ecliptic.

PAUL
The moon deviates from the ecliptic more than the planets because its orbit is tilted an additional five degrees.

RACHEL
Still, the moon’s path is near enough to the ecliptic to appear close to the star Aldebaran every month.

PAUL
Such is the case on the night of the 22nd, where stargazers will find the pair in the western sky.

RACHEL
That night, Aldebaran will be the yellow-orange star at the moon’s lower right.

PAUL
Look just beyond Aldebaran and you’ll see the Hyades star cluster.

RACHEL
The Earth’s yearly orbit around the sun makes the sun appear close to Aldebaran.

PAUL
In fact, on May 31st the sun passes five degrees above Aldebaran.

RACHEL
Of course, this will occur during the day when the stars will not be visible.

PAUL
So you’re going to have to take our word that Aldebaran is really there that day.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 21st and 22nd of March.

PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @IdahoSkies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.