Transcript for August 11 - 17

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

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
The night of the 11th and morning of the 12th is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

RACHEL
This meteor shower is best viewed after midnight.

PAUL
That’s when Idaho faces directly into the shower.

RACHEL
It’s similar to driving into a snow storm.

PAUL
That’s right. The rate of snowfall appears to be greater when the car’s direction of travel is into the direction that the snow is falling.

RACHEL
Perseid meteors will appear to radiate from the northeast.

PAUL
Plan to spend some time observing meteors because this shower is very dependable.

RACHEL
You may see more than 30 meteors per hour. And many will be bright and may even flare.

PAUL
136 years ago on the 12th, astronomer Asaph Hall detected a small star-like object close to the planet Mars.

RACHEL
It turned out to be a rock eight miles across orbiting the planet.

PAUL
This was the first Martian satellite that astronomers discovered.

RACHEL
Hall named his discovery Deimos, after one of the twin son’s of the god Mars.

PAUL
The name means terror in Latin.

RACHEL
Because of its small mass, a 12 mile per hour sprint is enough to launch your self off the surface of Deimos and into an eternal orbit around Mars.

PAUL
It wasn’t much later before Hall discovered a second satellite of Mars.

RACHEL
Some people were not surprised to discover that Mars had two satellites.

PAUL
This is because they saw that the two satellites around Mars fit a geometric progression between Earth with one satellite and Jupiter with four satellites.

RACHEL
Jonathon Swift makes mention of this in his story of Gulliver’s Travels.

PAUL
Today we know that Jupiter has far more than four satellites and the fact that Mars has two satellites is just a coincidence.

RACHEL
Speaking of moons, a far less terrifying one appears close to Spica and Saturn on the nights of the 11th and 12th respectively.

PAUL
Both objects will be around three degrees from good ol’ Luna on their night of closest approach.

RACHEL
The best time to look for both of these close approaches is between 10:15 and 10:45 PM.

PAUL
The moon reaches the first quarter phase on the 14th.

RACHEL
As always, this is a great phase for observing the moon with your binoculars or telescope.

PAUL
Focus most of your attention on the terminator, or boundary between day and night, for the greatest amount of visible detail.

RACHEL
The waxing gibbous moon is centered in the Milky Way on the night of the 16th.

PAUL
Search the sky all around the moon with your binoculars and you will find star clusters and nebulas, or clouds of glowing gas.

RACHEL
While binoculars are fine for this, a low power telescope with a wide field of view is even better.

PAUL
Mars passes its closest to Pollux, the brightest star in Gemini on the 17th.

RACHEL
If you have the time, you should start your observations of Mars and Pollux one week earlier.

PAUL
You will notice that Pollux appears higher every morning, but that Mars appears to remain nearly stationary with respect to the horizon.

RACHEL
In time, Earth will begin catching up to Mars.

PAUL
Then Mars will begin appearing in the evening sky rather in the morning sky.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of August. Next week we’ll tell you about the planetariums in Idaho. 

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

RACHEL
and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.