Idaho Skies Transcript for October 9th and 10th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for October 9th and 10th. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
The moon travels through the Hyades star cluster on the 9th.

RACHEL
So after it gets dark that night, aim your binoculars at the moon.

PAUL
Stargazers will find the star cluster to the moon’s left.

RACHEL
The cluster consists of two bright branches of stars.

PAUL
The moon and Hyades star cluster will fill your binoculars.

RACHEL
The Hyades represents the face of Taurus the Bull and is the star cluster closest to the solar system.

PAUL
The stars represent daughters of the Greek Titan, Atlas.

RACHEL
Atlas, as most listeners know, lost in the war between the Titans and the Greek gods.

PAUL
As a punishment, the Greek gods condemned him to support the heavens for the rest of eternity.

RACHEL
Atlas however, had many daughters prior, including the Pleiades and Hyades.

PAUL
According the legend, the brother of the Hyades was named Hyas and he was killed in a hunting accident.

RACHEL
The Hyades wept for the loss of their brother. So much that it brought rain to the earth.

PAUL
As a result, the Hyades were associated with rain by the Greeks.

RACHEL
So the Greeks expected the day when the Hyades rises just before the sun mark the start of the rainy period.

PAUL
When a star rises just before the sun, is called the star’s heliacal rising.

RACHEL
And the most famous heliacal rising is the one for Sirius.

PAUL
The ancient Egyptians used the heliacal rising of Sirius to predict the flooding of the Nile River.

RACHEL
Which was an important event to their society because the silt left by the flood fertilized their farm fields.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 9th and 10th of October.

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.