Idaho Skies Transcript: May 8th and 9th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 8th and 9th. We’re your hosts, Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

BRING DOWN MUSIC

PAUL
Stargazers will find a double star on the evening of the 9th with the help of the moon.

RACHEL
They’ll need to look around 10:00, or once the sky is dark enough.

PAUL
The star’s name is Zubenelgenubi and it’s one of the two brightest stars in Libra the Scales.

RACHEL
Zubenelgenubi, which can be split into two stars with binoculars, is the star located below the nearly full moon.

PAUL
Did you know that astronomers use double star observations to learn the masses of stars?

RACHEL
This is possible because Newton’s Laws of motion and gravity apply to the distant stars as well as they apply to the solar system.

PAUL
Astronomers know that the farther two stars are apart, the slower they orbit each other.

RACHEL
And that the more massive the stars are, the faster they orbit each other.

PAUL
Astronomers have since learned how to measure the temperature of a star using spectroscopy.

RACHEL
By combining the mass of a star and its temperature, astronomers can now calculate the age of a star.

PAUL
This came about once astronomers understood that stars generate energy through the fusion of hydrogen.

RACHEL
The science of spectroscopy was instrumental in the discovery of the composition and operation of stars.

PAUL
Before they understood the fusion process, astronomers thought star might generate heat by their gravitational collapse.

RACHEL
However, collapse is such a poor source of energy that stars couldn’t be more than tens of millions of years old.

PAUL
But with fusion as the energy source, astronomers have calculated that some stars will be around for a trillion years.
 
FADE IN MUSIC

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 8th and 9th of May.

PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at Idaho Skies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.