Transcript for April 28 - May 4

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the first week of May. We’re your hosts, Rachel…

PAUL
… and Paul.

RACHEL
The moon is at third quarter on the 2nd.

PAUL
First and third quarter moons are half moons.

RACHEL
The first quarter is the half moon most people see after sunset in the south.

PAUL
Sunlight illuminates the right half of the moon, or the moon’s eastern hemisphere.

RACHEL
At the third quarter moon, the sun illuminates the moon’s western hemisphere. Unlike the first quarter moon, the third quarter moon doesn’t rise until around midnight.

PAUL
The first and third quarter moons are excellent astronomical objects for binoculars and small telescopes.

RACHEL
That’s because the terminator of the first and third quarter moons point directly towards Earth.

PAUL
As a result, the shadows on the face of the moon are stretched their longest from our perspective.

RACHEL
One thing you will notice about the third quarter moon is that the western hemisphere of the moon is covered in more extensive maria than the eastern hemisphere.

PAUL
The maria are vast lava flows that filled ancient impact basins.

RACHEL
This occurred around 3.9 billion years ago when the moon’s interior was still hot.

PAUL
The flooding occurred in waves so each eruption left a thin layer of lava covering the previous eruption.

RACHEL
When you look at the lunar maria though your binoculars, you’ll see layers of rock older than any rocks on Earth.

PAUL
The moon’s largest impact basin is 1,500 miles across and eight miles deep in places. That’s large enough to span one quarter of the moon.

RACHEL
The impact basin is located between the crater Aitken and the moon’s South Pole.

PAUL
Astronomers named this impact basin the South Pole-Aitken basin and it’s the moon’s oldest recognized impact basin.

RACHEL
Because the impact basin is located at the Moon’s South Pole, we were unaware of its existence until spacecraft began exploring the moon in the early 1960s.

PAUL
It wasn’t until the 1990s that scientists mapped the complete topography of the South Pole-Aitken basin, and discovered that it is one of the solar system’s largest impact basins.

RACHEL
May 3rd is Space Day.

PAUL
Space Day is a celebration of humanity’s exploration of outer space. It is sponsored by the aerospace company Lockheed Martin.

RACHEL
Check out the Space Day website to see if anything is happening near you. www.spaceday.org

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of May. Join us next week to hear about Idaho’s next meteor shower.   

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.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.