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.

RACHEL
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.

RACHEL
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.

RACHEL
Then shift them above the moon and slightly right.

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

RACHEL
What about that other star cluster?

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

RACHEL
How can listeners find it?

PAUL
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.

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

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

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

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

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

PAUL
And equinox because day and night are equal in length.

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

PAUL
That’s because of atmospheric refraction.

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

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

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

PAUL
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.