Idaho Skies Transcript for February 21st and 22nd

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for February 21st and 22nd. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
You’ll find that the moon is being escorted by two attractive star clusters on the 22nd.

RACHEL
In fact, it looks like the moon has a star cluster in each arm that night.

PAUL
Which tells me that the moon has good taste in the company it keeps.

RACHEL
The star clusters are the Pleiades to the moon’s upper right...

PAUL
...and the Hyades to its upper left.

RACHEL
Both star clusters are packed with stars, but they do have some noticeable differences.

PAUL
To start with, the Hyades spans 33 light years and the Pleiades spans 45 light years.

RACHEL
So they’re roughly the same size.

PAUL
But the Hyades is only 150 light years away compared to the Pleiades which is 440 light years away.

RACHEL
Since the Hyades is closer to the solar system, it appears larger than the Pleiades.

PAUL
Second, the Hyades is 700 million years old while the Pleiades is only 100 million years old.

RACHEL
Meaning the stars of the Hyades has had more time to drift farther apart from one another.

PAUL
Without optical aid, stargazers should be able to see six stars in the Pleaides and about a dozen stars in the Hyades.

RACHEL
However, through binoculars, they’ll be able to see over two dozen stars in each star cluster.

PAUL
The stars of the Pleiades will be packed closely together and appear like a scattering of diamond dust.

RACHEL
But the Hyades is so large that it spans the binocular’s entire field of view.

PAUL
And that will weaken the glittery appearance of the star cluster.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 21st and 22nd of February.

PAUL
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @IdahoSkies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.

For Idaho Skies this is Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Dark skies and bright stars.