Transcript for December 19th and 20th

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for December 19th and 20th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Stargazers going outside after midnight on the 19th will find Leo the Lion sitting on top of the moon.

PAUL
Leo is one of the original 48 constellations recorded by the ancient astronomer Ptolemy.

RACHEL
Ptolemy was a Greek astronomer living in Alexandria, Egypt in the 2nd century AD.

PAUL
Leo was an ancient constellation for Ptolemy because the Mesopotamians recognized it as a lion 4,000 years earlier.

RACHEL
Residing inside the boundary of Leo is a star that astronomer Max Wolf listed as the 359th star in his catalog.

PAUL
He was developing a catalog of stars that were moving quickly across the sky.

RACHEL
This movement is called proper motion and a good way to detect stars that are close to the solar system.

PAUL
Today astronomers call the star Wolf 359.

RACHEL
At a distance of 8 light years, Wolf 359 is the fifth closest star to the solar system.

PAUL
The star appears in several science fiction stories, including Star Trek the Next Generation.

RACHEL
The star is so faint that a large amateur telescope is needed to see it.

PAUL
Why is it so faint if it’s so close to the solar system?

RACHEL
That’s because it’s a low mass red dwarf star.

PAUL
Astronomers discovered early last century that the lower the mass, the fainter the star.

RACHEL
In the case of Wolf 359, it only has 9% of the mass of the sun.

PAUL
That low mass comes with a benefit however.

RACHEL
Astronomers calculate that the star will continue to shine until a ripe old age of 8 trillion years.

PAUL
Which is almost 800 times longer than the sun.

RACHEL
So when the sun is long gone, Wolf 359 won’t even be 1% older.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 19th and 20th of December.

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.