Transcript for November 2nd and 3rd

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for November 2nd and 3rd. We’re your hosts, Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
The planets Venus and Saturn are located below the moon on the evening of the 2nd.

RACHEL
You can’t miss Venus; it’s the brightest star in the low west.

PAUL
Saturn and the moon are so close together that stargazers can see both together through binoculars.

RACHEL
Unfortunately, Venus is just a little too far away from the moon to be seen at the same time in binoculars.

PAUL
Look for Venus, Saturn, and the moon between 7:30 and 8:00 PM.

RACHEL
That’s after the sky gets dark and before Saturn sets.

PAUL
Stargazers should be on the lookout for earthshine starting on the 3rd…

RACHEL
…although they’ll have several nights to catch earthshine.

PAUL
Earthshine appears as a faint illumination on the dark portion of the moon.

RACHEL
The brightness of the illuminated moon creates enough glare that it’s often easier to see earthshine through binoculars.

PAUL
The earthshine moon is also called the old moon in the arms of the young moon.

RACHEL
The young moon, in this case, is the brightly illuminated the young crescent moon.

PAUL
And the old moon is the fainter gibbous moon.

RACHEL
People have also called earthshine ashen light.

PAUL
It’s not difficult for stargazers to identify many lunar maria in earthshine.

RACHEL
That’s because earthshine is quite bright, considering Earth appears 50 times brighter than the full moon.

PAUL
The challenge is to identify craters in earthshine.

RACHEL
Large craters like Tycho and Grimaldi are visible in earthshine.

PAUL
But small ones will be difficult because they don’t cast shadows.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 2nd and 3rd of November.

 PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @IdahoSkies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.