Transcript for November 28th and 29th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for November 28th and 29th. We’re your hosts, Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
The moon is new on the 29th.

PAUL
That means stargazers can’t expect to see it in the evening again for a couple of days.

RACHEL
Did you know that the moon takes 27 days to orbit Earth?

PAUL
I did. Did you know that it takes between 29 and 30 days for the lunar phase to go from new moon to new moon?

RACHEL
Wait, it takes the moon over two days longer to go through its phases than it takes to orbit Earth?

PAUL
That’s right.

RACHEL
Where are those additional two days coming from? Does the moon take a rest for two nights?

PAUL
Nope. By the time the moon completes one orbit, Earth and the moon has traveled 1/12th of the around the sun.

RACHEL
Oh I see. Because the sun no longer appears in the same location in the sky, the moon must travel two additional days to catch up with the sun.

PAUL
And therefore, two additional days to reach the same phase.

RACHEL
And during that time, we never see the far side of the moon.

PAUL
That’s right. Because the moon is so close to Earth, it’s tidally locked.

RACHEL
The same process that tidally locked the moon is happening to Earth.

PAUL
However, because of the low mass of the moon, the process may take 50 billion years to tidally lock Earth to the moon.

RACHEL
By then, the sun will be long gone.

PAUL
And depending on the breaks, Earth may even not even exist.

RACHEL
That’s because the sun must expand into a Red Giant star first.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 28th and 29th of November.

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.