Idaho Skies Transcript for July 17th to 18th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for July 17th and 18th. We’re your hosts, Paul...


RACHEL
...and Rachel.


PAUL
Here’s a slightly difficult observation for stargazers.


RACHEL
Try to find Uranus on the 17th.


PAUL
It’s more difficult than usual because the planet is seven degrees away from the moon that night.


RACHEL
Recall that most binoculars have a field of view of 7.5 degrees.


PAUL
So go outside at 4:30 AM on the 17th and place the center of the moon at the 7 o’clock position of your binoculars.


RACHEL
Uranus will appear at the opposite edge or at the 1 o’clock position.


PAUL
Watch out though, there’s a star slightly brighter than Uranus near the same position.


RACHEL
However, this star is a little to the lower right of Uranus.


PAUL
When you locate Uranus, you’re looking at a planet four times larger than Earth and 1.85 billion miles away.


RACHEL
1.85 billion miles is 20 times farther away from the sun than Earth.


PAUL
And that makes the sun’s gravity 400 times weaker at Uranus than at Earth.


RACHEL
That weaker pull of gravity means Uranus doesn’t have to travel quite so fast to balance the sun’s pull.


PAUL
That’s why its year or time it takes to go around the sun lasts 85 years.


RACHEL
Before finishing, take a moment to look at the moon.


PAUL
It’s approaching one lunar month old, so it’s a thin crescent.


RACHEL
So if you leave early to work, be sure to start looking for earthshine on the moon.


PAUL
It appears as the faint illumination on the upper right side of the moon.


RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 17th and 18th of July.


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.