Idaho Skies Transcript for July 19th and 20th

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


PAUL
...and Paul.


RACHEL
Early birds going outside at 4:30 AM on the 20th will find the Morning Star just a tiny bit above a very thin crescent moon.


PAUL
Together, they’ll make a scene worth getting your binoculars out.


RACHEL
But wait, there’s more!


PAUL
That’s right. Aldebaran will be the star to the right of Venus and the moon.


RACHEL
Stargazers will notice a big difference between the colors of Venus and the star Aldebaran.


PAUL
Venus is a steadfast bright white star while Aldebaran is a twinkling paler yellowish star.


RACHEL
Let’s talk about Aldebaran for a moment.


PAUL
Sure. Aldebaran is the 10th brightest star that we can see from Idaho.


RACHEL
It’s only 50% heavier than the sun, but 44 times larger in size.


PAUL
In Arabic, Aldebaran means the follower.


RACHEL
It probably has that name because it follows the Pleiades.


PAUL
It’s 65 light years away, so the light you see tonight left in 1952.


RACHEL
Did you known that that Aldebaran plays a part in Joe Haldeman’s novel, The Forever War?


PAUL
Yes I did. In his book, humans are fighting a race of aliens from around Aldebaran.


RACHEL
Well, did you know that Earth has launched a spacecraft to Aldebaran?


PAUL
Well, actually, NASA launched a spacecraft to explore Jupiter in 1971 and now it’s escaped the solar system.


RACHEL
That spacecraft, Pioneer 10 will sail past Aldebaran in roughly two million years.


PAUL
Of course, it will be a dead and probably battered spacecraft by the time it arrives.


RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 19th and 20th 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.