Transcript: March 27th to April 2nd

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the fourth week of March. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Zubenelgenubi is an easy to resolve double star.

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And you’ll find it residing on the moon’s right after midnight on the 27th.

PAUL
The distance between the moon and Zubenelgenubi is 5 degrees.

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Which is about the distance spanned by your fist when your arm is fully extended.

PAUL
Since most binoculars have a field of view of 5 degrees, Zubenelgenubi and the moon also fit within your binoculars at the same time.

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But just barely.

PAUL
Looking for Mars?

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Well, it’s the bright orangish star located below the moon on the morning of the 28th.

PAUL
The other orangish, but slightly fainter star below Mars is Antares.

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In Greek, Antares means anti-Ares.

PAUL
Or the rival of Ares.

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Ares is the Greek name for the Roman god of war, Mars.

PAUL
So it’s fitting to see Mars and Antares so close together.

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You’ll find the moon parked above what appears to be a creamy white star on the morning of the 29th.

PAUL
You’ll notice however that this star doesn’t twinkle.

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This is a dead give-away that the star is actually a planet.

PAUL
More specifically, it’s Saturn, the 6th planet in the solar system.

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You can’t see the rings of Saturn through binoculars.

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Nor its largest satellite Titan, even though it’s farther away from Saturn than its rings.

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The reason you can’t see the rings is that they’re too small.

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The reason you can’t see Titan in binoculars is that it’s too close to the glare of Saturn.

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However, a small telescope capable of magnifying 25 times is sufficient to see both the rings and Titan.

PAUL
That means even some spotting scopes can show you Titan and Saturn’s rings.

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Even though binoculars can’t show much with Saturn, they’re still very useful for casual star gazing.

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For example, they’ll let you see several star clusters and nebulae surrounding the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

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On the 31st, the moon gives you a convenient starting point to find these attractive astronomical objects.

PAUL
You’ll need to go outside at about 5:00 AM and scan the region to the right of the moon.

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Make sure you scan up and down the Milky Way also.

PAUL
Since this region of the sky surrounds the galaxy’s core, it’s packed with astronomical objects large and bright enough to see through binoculars.

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Some of the objects will appear as fuzzy clouds and others will be sprinkled with stars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the fourth week of March. Next week we’ll talk about a monster residing in the center of the Milky Way.

RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.

Transcript for March 20th to 26th

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

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Leo the Lion, some claim, fell from the moon.

PAUL
On the 20th, you’ll find Leo couched above the moon.

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More specifically, you’ll see its brightest star Regulus directly above the moon.

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Regulus is considered the heart of Leo the Lion.

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What about that brighter star to the left of Regulus?

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It’s not actually a part of Leo; it’s the planet Jupiter.

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Each night, the moon moves further east.

PAUL
Therefore, it’s not surprising to see that on the 21st it passes Jupiter.

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The pair will create an attractive sight.

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The moon is nearly full, so your binoculars will only show a few oval craters along the left edge of the moon.

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You’ll also see one bright crater near the bottom of the moon that stands out like a sore thumb.

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And seeing it should remind you of the navel on a navel orange.

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This crater’s name is Tycho and it’s named after a 17th century Danish astronomer

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Scientists believe its 109 million years old based on rocks collected by the Apollo astronauts.

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Speaking of the moon, it’s full on the morning of the 23rd.

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And it just so happens that the moon is passing through Earth’s shadow.

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This means we get to see a lunar eclipse.

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Unfortunately, the moon doesn’t pass directly through the central core of Earth’s shadow.

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The center of Earth’s shadow is called the umbra while the outer rim is called the penumbra.

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The umbra is darkest because no sunlight directly reaches this part of Earth’s shadow.

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The penumbra is not as dark as the umbra because the sun’s disk is not completely blocked there.

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This results in some sunlight reaching this portion of Earth’s shadow.

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Which is why the moon is not quite as dark as when its in the penumbra.

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The best time to see this lunar eclipse is around 6:00 AM on the 23rd.

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You’ll find the moon in the low west at that time.

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And only the bottom half of the moon will be darkened.

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Hey, there’s a bright star on the moon’s right side late on the evening of the 24th.

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The star’s name is Spica and it’s the lucida of Virgo the Maiden.

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Spica is the easiest part of Virgo to identify.

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That’s because the rest of the constellation contains fainter stars and is sparsely populated.

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That’s Idaho Skies for the third week of March. Next week the moon will help you find star clusters that you can see in binoculars.

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.

Transcript for March 13th to 19th

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

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
The moon’s located between the Hyades and Pleiades star cluster on the night of the 13th.

RACHEL
The trio of nice binocular sky objects makes taking your binoculars outside worthwhile.

PAUL
So enjoy the warmer weather and observe the craters on the moon and some two dozen stars visible in the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters.

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The Beehive star cluster is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth.

PAUL
And the moon will lead the way to this attractive star cluster and to another, but smaller star cluster on the night of the 18th.

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The Beehive star cluster, which is also known as M-44 is 8 degrees away from the moon on the 18th.

PAUL
To see the Beehive, aim your binoculars at the moon on the night of the 18th.

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Then shift them above the moon and slightly right.

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The Beehive will pop into view shortly after the moon leaves.

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What about that other star cluster?

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It’s called M-67 and it is only 2 degrees below the moon.

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How can listeners find it?

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To find it, aim your binoculars at the moon again but this time, shift them down until the moon is located at the top of the field of view.

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You’ll see M-67 near the center of the field of view.

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Yippee! Spring begins on the 19th at 10:30 PM.

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Finally, the sun is passing directly over the equator in its relentless quest to reside over the Northern Hemisphere.

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The point at which the sun’s path crosses the equator is called the Vernal Equinox.

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Vernal because it’s the start of spring for the Northern Hemisphere.

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And equinox because day and night are equal in length.

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Technically, the day is still several minutes longer than the night.

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That’s because of atmospheric refraction.

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As the sun sets, the atmosphere causes sunlight to refract or bend downward.

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This means refraction causes the sun’s apparent position to be lifted almost a degree higher.

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That apparent lifting of the sun makes it set about 3 minutes later than it really does.

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So enjoy your 6 minute longer day on the 19th.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the second week of March. Next week Idaho gets to see a lunar eclipse.

RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.

Transcript for March 6th to 12th

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

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Jupiter reaches opposition on the 8th.

PAUL
Opposition? What does that mean?

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It means that Jupiter is located opposite the sun in our sky.

PAUL
Oh, and therefore at it’s closest to Earth for the year.

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And it’s slightly brighter and larger than usual for the next few weeks.

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Jupiter rises in the east by 6:30, which is before the sky even gets dark.

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Binoculars will let you see several of its large satellites, which we also call the Galilean Satellites.

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They’re named the Galilean Satellites because Galileo discovered them with his new telescope.

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This occurred between December 1609 and January 1610.

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Galileo was not the first person to turn the newly invented telescope heavenward, but he was the first to make systematic records of his observations.

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Galileo was a committed Copernican, or supporter of the hypothesis put forth by Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus.

PAUL
Without having the evidence to back him up, Copernicus proposed that the sun was the center of the solar system and not Earth.

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This concept actually goes back to the ancient Greeks.

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To Copernicus and others, placing the sun at the center of the universe seemed to make the planetary motions easier to understand.

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Especially the retrograde motion of planets like Mars.

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So just what is retrograde motion?

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Retrograde is when planets like Mars moved from east to west or backwards from their normal direction of travel across the sky.

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The accepted explanation was that the planets orbited Earth in deferents and epicycles.

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This is a model of motion where planets travel in circles inside of other circles that are orbiting Earth.

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As the circles rotated at their own particular rate, they sometimes made a planet speed up, slow down, or even move backwards for a brief period of time.

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One argument used against Copernicus’ hypothesis of the sun-centered universe is that the moon couldn’t orbit around Earth if Earth was orbiting around the sun.

PAUL
Otherwise, Earth would leave the moon behind.

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Galileo’s observations of satellites orbiting Jupiter proved that satellites could orbit a planet while the planet orbited another body, be it the sun or Earth.

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So when you see the Galilean Satellites on the night of the 8th, remember that they’re orbiting a giant planet traveling at 29,000 miles per hour.

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Speaking of moons...

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...the moon is just over 2 days old on the 10th.

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That night however, the very thin crescent moon keeps very distant company, Uranus.

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The planet Uranus is 2 degrees or four apparent lunar diameters away from the moon.

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To see Uranus, aim your binoculars at the thin moon, which is in the low west at 8:00 PM on the 10th.

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Then shift your binoculars to place the moon at the 8:00 o’clock position of your binoculars field of view.

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This is also the lower left edge of the field of view.

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The star near the center of the binoculars field of view will be Uranus.

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Uranus is easy to see in binoculars, but having the moon nearby makes finding it a whole lot easier to find.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the first week of March. Next week is star cluster week.

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.

Capella is the Star for March

This month look for the star, Capella, the lucida (or brightest star) of Auriga, The Charioteer. Capella is known by another name to astronomers, Alpha Aurigae. If you were born in 1974, then Capella is your birthday star this year. That’s because the light of Capella that you see tonight left the star 42 years ago. The name Capella comes from the Latin for Little She-goat, a reference to the fact that Auriga is depicted holding young goats in drawings of the constellation. The goats, or kids are the three stars forming a narrow triangle very close and just south of the star Capella.

Capella, which the sixth brightest star in the heavens, is really two large yellow giant stars in orbit around each other. Their distance apart of 60 millions miles means they’re too close together to see as separate stars except under the best circumstances. For comparison, their distance apart is slightly closer than the distance between Venus and the sun. Millions of years ago, the yellow stars of Capella were probably as white and bright as Sirius is now. The stars of Capella are old enough that one is fusing helium in its core and the other will soon begin fusing helium. These stars are ten time more massive than the sun and 50 and 80 times brighter.

Capella is located high in the northwest and to the left of the bowl of the Big Dipper in March.

Idaho Skies for March 2016

Idaho Skies

March 1 – 7

The third quarter moon is nearly equidistant between two planets, Mars and Saturn on the morning of the 1^st. While a pair of binoculars can’t resolve the rings of Saturn, a small telescope of spotting scope can. A telescope will invert the image of Saturn whereas a spotting scope won’t. Either optical device needs a magnification of at least 25 power to see the rings of Saturn and 50 power would be better. 

 A pair of binoculars will show you several small nebulae and star clusters surrounding the moon on the morning of the 3^rd. The reason this region of the sky is so dense with star clusters and nebulae is that it located near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. To see these star clusters and nebulae, scan the area around the moon with a pair of binoculars without actually placing the moon in the field of view. Most of the objects will appear as small fuzzy spots, some sprinkled with a few stars. 

On the morning of the 3^rd and 4^th, use your binoculars to look for earthshine illuminating the dark portion of the moon. It’s best to attempt this while the sky is still dark since the light of dawn washes out the contrast between the sky and earthshine.

 

March 8 – 14

Jupiter reaches opposition on the 8^th. That means it’s located opposite the sun in our sky and therefore at it’s closest to Earth for the year. As a result, Jupiter is slightly brighter and larger than usual. Look for Jupiter to rise in the east by 6:30, or before the sky even gets dark.  

 The moon is new on the 8^th, but we don’t see it again until the evening of the 10^th. That night the very thin crescent moon is 2 degrees from Uranus. Uranus can be seen through a pair of binoculars, but having the moon point it out makes it that much easier. So aim your binoculars at the thin moon, which is located in the low west at 8:00 PM. Then shift your binoculars to place the moon in the left-lower left. The star near the center of the binoculars field of view will be Uranus.

You’ll find the moon between the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters on the night of the 13^th. This month we won’t see the moon cover or occult Aldebaran as we did the previous two months. The trio of nice binocular sky objects will make taking your binoculars outside worthwhile.  

 March 15 – 21

The moon reaches first quarter phase on the 15^th, the same night you’ll find it above Orion the Hunter. Orion is the tall rectangle of stars below the moon. Because of the brightest of its 4 corner stars, Orion is as popular of a pattern of stars as is the Big Dipper. Just like the Big Dipper, what most people recognize as Orion is not the entire constellation.  

The Beehive star cluster is one of the nearest star clusters to Earth and the moon leads you the way to it and a second smaller star cluster on the night of the 18^th. The Beehive is 8 degrees away from the moon on the 18^th, which is close to one and a half binocular fields of view away. So if you aim your binoculars at the moon on the 18^th and then shift them above the moon and slightly right, the Beehive will pop into view shortly after the moon leaves. The other and smaller star cluster is called M-67 and it’s 2 degrees below the moon. To see it, aim your binoculars at the moon again and then shift the binoculars to place the moon at the top of the field of view. M-67 will be near the center of the field of view.  

Yippee! Spring begins on the 19^th at 10:30 PM. Finally, the sun passes directly over the equator in its relentless quest to cross over the Northern Hemisphere. The point at which the sun crosses over the equator is called the Vernal Equinox. Vernal because it’s the start of spring (for the Northern Hemisphere) and equinox because day and night are equal in length. Technically, the day is actually several minutes longer because of atmospheric refraction. The refraction causes the sun’s apparent position to be lifted almost one degree higher as the sun sets.    

Leo the Lion, some claim, fell from the moon. On the 20^th, you’ll find Leo couched above the moon. Specifically, its brightest star and heart, Regulus, is the bright star nearly directly above the moon. And that brighter star to the left of Regulus? It’s not a part of Leo; it’s actually the planet Jupiter.       

The moon moves relentlessly east. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see that on the 21^st it passes Jupiter. The pair creates an attractive sight. The moon is nearly full, so binoculars will only show a few oval craters along the left edge of the moon. What binoculars will show best are the lunar seas or maria. There’s also a crater near the bottom of the moon that stands out like a sore thumb. Seeing it should remind you of the navel of a navel orange. This crater is named Tycho and it’s believed to 109 million years old based on rocks collected by the Apollo astronauts.  

March 22 – 31

The moon is full on the morning of the 23^rd. The full moon in March is called the Crow Moon. It just so happens that the moon is also passing through Earth’s shadow, so we get to see a lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, the moon doesn’t pass through the central core of Earth’s shadow. This results in a partial lunar eclipse where only part of the moon passes through the outer rim of Earth’s, or the penumbra. The best time to see this lunar eclipse is around 6:00 AM on the 23^rd. You’ll find the moon in the low west with its bottom half darkened in shadow.   

There’s a bright star on the moon’s right side late on the evening of the 24^th. The star’s name is Spica and it’s the lucida of Virgo the Maiden. Spica is the easiest part of Spica to identify, the rest of the constellation is rather faint and sparse because of its large size. 

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Zubenelgenubi, an easy to resolve double star is residing on the moon’s right after midnight on the 27^th. The distance between the moon and Zubenelgenubi is 5 degrees, or about the distance spanned by your fist when your arm is fully extended

Mars is the bright orangish star located below the moon on the morning of the 28^th. The orangish and slightly fainter star further below Mars is Antares. In Greek, Antares means anti-Ares, or the rival of Ares, the Greek name for the Roman god of war, Mars.   

On the morning of the 29^th, you’ll find the moon parked above a creamy white star. The star doesn’t twinkle, so you know it’s a planet. Specifically, it’s Saturn. You can’t see the rings of Saturn or its largest satellite, Titan through binoculars. They’re too close to the planet’s glare to detect. However, a small telescope or even spotting scope capable of magnifying at least 25 times is capable of seeing the rings and Titan.

Binoculars will let you see several of the star clusters and nebulae surrounding the core of the Milky Way galaxy. On the 31^st, the moon gives you a convenient starting point to find these attractive deep sky objects. At about 5:00 AM, scan the region to the right of the moon with binoculars, making sure to scan up and down also. This is the region of the sky surrounding the galaxy’s core and it’s packed with astronomical objects large enough and bright enough to see through binoculars. Some of the objects will appear like fuzzy clouds and others will be sprinkled with stars.