Transcript for November 30th to December 6th

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

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
The moon helps locate the seventh planet on the 1st.

PAUL
The 7th planet is named "your anus", although I prefer to pronounce it as Uranus to keep people from giggling.

RACHEL
To find Uranus, look for two stars on the right side of the moon that form a triangle with the moon.

PAUL
That means the moon is the left corner of the triangle.

RACHEL
The star closest the moon is the top of the triangle and it’s called 96 Piscium.

PAUL
Twice as far away from the moon is slightly fainter Uranus.

RACHEL
The moon, 96 Piscium, and Uranus will all fit within half of your binocular’s field of view.

PAUL
Do you want to find the constellation of Aries the Ram?

RACHEL
It’s the flat triangle of stars right above the moon on the evening of the 3rd.

PAUL
Many of our listeners are familiar with Aries; in Greek mythology, it’s the ram with the Golden Fleece.

RACHEL
Some of the best star clusters are among the closest ones to our solar system.

PAUL
And they’re visible to us in the Northern hemisphere.

RACHEL
Look for two of these star clusters above and below the moon on the evening of the 4th.

PAUL
The Pleiades is the small dipper-shaped cluster of stars above the moon.

RACHEL
The other is the Hyades star cluster and it’s the larger V-shaped splash of stars below the moon.

PAUL
Both are excellent objects for your binoculars.

RACHEL
The moon immerses itself within the Hyades star cluster on the evening of the 5th.

PAUL
When observed separately, the moon seems larger than the Hyades star cluster.

RACHEL
On the 5th however, you’ll be able to see how much larger the Hyades is than the moon.

PAUL
Be sure to use your binoculars on this attractive sight.

RACHEL
The moon is located above Orion the Hunter on the evening of the 6th.

PAUL
Orion appears as a tall rectangle of bright stars.

RACHEL
Going from left to right, the top two stars are named Betelgeuse and Bellatrix.

PAUL
The two bottom stars, also going form left to right are names Saph and Rigel.

RACHEL
Check out Betelgeuse.

PAUL
Betelgeuse has a reddish-orange tint because it’s a red giant star.

RACHEL
It’s a red giant because it is nearing the end of its life.

PAUL
Its core is now filling with the helium ash from its fusion of hydrogen.

RACHEL
Some day in the near future, it may accumulate enough helium to start fusing it for energy.

PAUL
Until then, it will remain a huge and bloated star.

RACHEL
Betelgeuse is so bloated that if it replaced our sun, the star would engulf all the inner planets out to Mars.

PAUL
Ouch!

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of December. The moon passes by the Heavenly Twins next week.

PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and RACHEL
.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.