Transcript for May 5 to May 11

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the second week of May. We’re your hosts, Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower reaches its peak on the 5th.

RACHEL
This meteor shower is visible for at least a week before and after its peak, which is good because the moon’s light is going to interfere.

PAUL
The moon’s light is not the only strike against this shower.

RACHEL
That’s right. It’s radiant, or the point in the sky where the meteors appear to radiate from, is close to the horizon in the Northern hemisphere.

PAUL
This means the meteor shower is much better south of the equator.

RACHEL
Did you know that the parent of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is comet Halley?

PAUL
The Eta Aquarids is one of the two showers that originate from this comet.

RACHEL
So if you observe meteors from this shower this week, you’re watching dust from comet Halley vaporizing dozens of miles overhead.

PAUL
In dark skies and with no moon, you can expect to see around ten swift meteors per hour from this shower.

RACHEL
You’ll know you’ve seen an Eta Aquarid meteor if it originated from the low east.

PAUL
Even neater, a sizable portion of these meteors are expected to leave trains.

RACHEL
Meteor trains are the glowing trails left behind a meteor’s passage through the atmosphere. They can last from a few seconds to several minutes.

PAUL
Astronomers do not fully understand the mechanism responsible for meteor trains. However, they know that some of it consists of energetic atoms.

RACHEL
The high energy of the atoms and ions in the meteor train cause them to glow.

PAUL
If you see a long lasting meteor train, you may notice that its shape changes over time. Part of the reason is that high altitude winds are blowing the train in different directions

RACHEL
The moon is new on the 9th.

PAUL
At new moon, the moon’s orbital path carries the moon closest to the sun.

RACHEL
Since the moon’s orbit is tipped five degrees relative to Earth’s equator, the moon often passes over or below the sun at new.

PAUL
If there were no tilt in the moon’s orbit, then every new moon would result in a solar eclipse.

RACHEL
Fortunately, this month, the moon will indeed pass in front of the sun. The solar eclipse will only be visible in Australia, however.

PAUL
The moon will be 24 hours old on the evening of the 10th.

RACHEL
It will be difficult to see, but this is an opportunity to search for a very young crescent moon.



PAUL
Use binoculars and look just left, or south of Venus, very low in the northwestern sky right after sunset.

RACHEL
If you can find the moon, it will be just a sliver and will not even span half a circle.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of May. Next week the young crescent moon leads us to a very old star cluster visible in binoculars. 

RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies dot blogspot dot com. For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.