Idaho Skies Transcript for the Weekend of January 10th

STEPHEN

Welcome to Idaho Skies for the weekend of January 10^th. We’re your hosts, Stephen…

PAUL

…and Paul.

STEPHEN

Hey, the moon is full on the 10^th. Did you know that some Native American tribes named the first full moon of January the Wolf Moon? They did because on cold winter nights, wolves are hungrier than usual. So the people of these cultures would hear wolves howling more frequently at night.

PAUL

The full moon illuminates the sky and washes away all the fainter stars. That means the nights near the full moon are bad times to look for faint and fuzzy astronomical objects like comets and nebulae. Therefore, check out the sky tonight and see how the moon’s light changes the sky from dark black to grayish blue.  

STEPHEN

Then get out your binoculars for the night of the 11^th. The Beehive star cluster will be three degrees to the upper right of the moon. Since binoculars have a field of view of 7.5 degrees, both the moon and star cluster will appear together. However, it will be better if you shift the moon out of the field of view.

PAUL

The Beehive star cluster appears as large as the moon, so it’s not very small. You’ll see a compact groping of some two dozen stars, once the moon is out of sight. People call this star cluster the Beehive because it has a strong resemblance to bees buzzing around their hive. Do you see the same thing?   

STEPEN

That’s Idaho Skies for the weekend of January 10^th.

PAUL

Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

STEPHEN

…and Stephen.

PAUL

Dark skies and bright stars.