Idaho Skies Transcript for May 2nd and 3rd

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 2nd and 3rd. We’re your hosts, Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
On the morning of May 2nd, the moon appears above the heart of a scorpion.

RACHEL
The heart in this case is a bright orange-red star named Antares.

PAUL
Antares is bright and orange-red because it’s a relatively nearby red giant star.

RACHEL
Since it’s a red giant, it’s no longer fusing hydrogen in its core.

PAUL
Instead, it’s fusing helium in its core.

RACHEL
That helium is the ash of the hydrogen it fused long ago.

PAUL
The hydrogen remaining inside Antares is being fused in a shell surrounding its central core.

RACHEL
So there are two distinct places in red giant stars like Antares, where fusing atoms are together.

PAUL
And in time, it will fuse element heavier than helium, each in a different shell.

RACHEL
That reminds me of the layers in an onion.

PAUL
The heat generated by both helium and hydrogen fusion has expanded the stars’ outer layers.

RACHEL
When any gas is pushed away from its heat source, it cools down.

PAUL
And that cooling has created a surface that’s only red hot and not yellow hot like the sun.

RACHEL
The rest of the constellation of Scorpius is strongly reminiscent of a scorpion.

PAUL
Its tail consists of a slanted S of stars that goes from the lower left of Antares.

RACHEL
And its pinchers are the ‘T’ shape of stars to the right of Antares.

PAUL
Scorpius is not the only company the moon keeps tonight.

RACHEL
That’s right. The moon is flanked on the left and right by bright planets.

PAUL
Jupiter is the bright whitish star to the right of the moon.

RACHEL
And Saturn is the fainter mellow white star on the moon’s left.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 2nd and 3rd of May.

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

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.