Transcript: August 30 to September 5

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

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
The moon and star clusters, oh my!

PAUL
That’s right; the moon passes two very nice star clusters in the morning of the 4th and 5th.

RACHEL
First, the moon is last quarter, meaning it appears as half a moon.

PAUL
This is a nice time to observe the moon through binoculars or a small telescope.

RACHEL
The reason is that the half moon shows the greatest amount of detail along its terminator, or boundary between day and night.

PAUL
The terminator at last quarter faces directly at Earth, so its shadows appear stretched out and that accentuates small surface features in craters and mountains.

RACHEL
You only need a pair of binoculars to see a multitude of craters, especially in the moon’s southern hemisphere.

PAUL
It was images like the ones you see in binoculars that Galileo saw with his new telescope in 1609.

RACHEL
Craters and mountains led him to the realization that the heavens were not prefect as Aristotle believed.

PAUL
And that the moon was in many ways a lot like Earth.

RACHEL
If you go out to observe the moon on the 4th, you’ll find it between the Pleiades and the Hyades star clusters.

PAUL
A good time to look for them is around 5:00 AM, so take a look before you drive to work.

RACHEL
The Pleiades will appear above the moon and the Hyades below.

PAUL
Many people know the Pleiades star cluster by its other name, the Seven Sisters.

RACHEL
Have you ever visited Devil’s Tower in Montana?

PAUL
Well, there’s a connection between the Seven Sisters and Devil’s Tower.

RACHEL
According to one Native American legend, seven young girls were trying to escape a bear when the Devil’s Tower was raised from the ground to help them escape.

PAUL
The bear scratched at the tower in an attempt to climb it.

RACHEL
And it’s the bear’s scratch marks that are the vertical striations in the volcanic neck of Devil’s Tower.

PAUL
On the morning of the 5th, you’ll find the moon as its sailing though the outer edge of the Hyades star cluster.

RACHEL
The Hyades is the V-shaped cluster of stars to the moon’s right.

PAUL
The cluster and the moon will fill most of your binocular’s field of view.

RACHEL
Close to the moon’s right is an orange star named Aldebaran.

PAUL
The star represents the eye of Taurus the Bull and it's 65 light years away.

RACHEL
So if you know someone 65 years old this year, then Aldebaran is his or her birthday star this year.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of September. Venus is approaching inferior conjunction and next week we’ll tell you what that portends.

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.