Idaho Skies Transcript for September 21st, 22nd, and 23rd

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for September 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. We’re your hosts, Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
Hey, autumn begins in Idaho at 3:54 PM.

PAUL
Astronomers call this the Autumnal Equinox.

RACHEL
Autumnal is obviously a reference to autumn, but what about equinox?

PAUL
Equinox comes from the Latin for equal night.

RACHEL
Wait, the night equals what?

PAUL
Well, it’s the length of night. Its length is equal to the length of the day.

RACHEL
So in other words, the night and day have the same number of minutes.

PAUL
The term was first used by Chaucer in the 1300’s.

RACHEL
It’s in a book that he wrote for his son, Little Lewis.

PAUL
Chaucer’s book was actually a technical manual, the first one written in English.

RACHEL
Or middle English in this case.

PAUL
His book explained how to use the astrolabe, an ancient astronomical device.

RACHEL
The descendant of the astrolabe is today’s planisphere.

PAUL
Many stargazers have seen or even used the planisphere.

RACHEL
It’s a two dimensional model of the night time sky made from two rotating disks.

PAUL
Its outer disk is a window and marked in the hours of the day.

RACHEL
The inner disk is a map of the stars and constellations.

PAUL
And its rim is marked in the days of the year.

RACHEL
By aligning a time of the day to the day of the year, the window rotates to show the position of the stars.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of September.

RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…

PAUL
…and Paul.

RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.