Transcript for June 12th to 18th

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

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
The moon reaches first quarter on the 12th.

RACHEL
The first quarter moon appears as a half moon and it's the best phase for lunar observations.

PAUL
The reason why is that at first quarter, the boundary between lunar day and night faces directly towards Earth.

RACHEL
This gives the moon's morning shadows their longest apparent length.

PAUL
Long shadows bring out small changes in elevation.

RACHEL
In fact, elevation changes smaller than one hundred feet are visible on the moon when it's nearly 240,000 miles away.

PAUL
Spica, the brightest star in otherwise dim Virgo, is the bright pinpoint of light below the moon on the 14th.

RACHEL
Hey, can you make out the constellation of Corvus the Crow, which is further below Spica?

PAUL
It's the lop-sided square of four stars below and slightly right of Spica.

RACHEL
Corvus the Crow appears in the sky because the Greek god Apollo threw it into the sky during a fit of anger.

PAUL
Let that be a warning not to tell lies to Greek gods.

RACHEL
Mars is the orange beacon signaling you from a position below the moon on the night of the 16th.

PAUL
Mars was recently at opposition, so it's still relatively close to Earth.

RACHEL
But Mars is only half the diameter of Earth.

PAUL
Meaning it can be difficult to make out surface detail on this world even through a telescope.

RACHEL
While you can't see any Martian features through binoculars, you can split the double star that's located to the lower right of the moon.

PAUL
The star's name is Zubenelgenubi and its half the apparent distance from the moon as Mars.

RACHEL
The star appears as a significantly fainter white point of light when compared to Mars.

PAUL
Some people can split Zubenelgenubi into two stars with just their bare eyes, can you?

RACHEL
If not, then like the rest of us, you'll need to use binoculars.

PAUL
Late on the 17th and early on the 18th, the moon is just above the head of Scorpius the Scorpion.

RACHEL
The brightest star of Scorpius is Antares.

PAUL
Which is a super red giant star.

RACHEL
That's right. Red giant stars are stars nearing the end of their lives.

PAUL
That means someday soon, Antares will explode in a supernova explosion.

RACHEL
The explosion occurs when the core of the star stops fusing fuel into heavier elements and energy.

PAUL
Without its internal energy source, gravity makes the star's core collapse.

RACHEL
After the massive core squeezes itself into a neutron star, it rebounds slightly.

PAUL
The star's outermost layer is raining down as the core rebounds.

RACHEL
The impact between the falling outer layer and rebounding core creates a shockwave that rushes through the rest of the star.

PAUL
The result is a massive amount of fusion and titanic explosion that blows away the outer layer of the star.

RACHEL
In the fiery debris, fusion reactions create heavier elements like gold and platinum.

PAUL
That means the world's wealth of gold and platinum exists because of stars that died many billions of years ago.

RACHEL
That's Idaho Skies for the second week of June. Next week is the first day of summer.

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

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.