Idaho Skies Transcript for January 11th, 12th, and 13th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for January 11th, 12th, and 13th. We’re your hosts, Paul…

RACHEL
…and Rachel.

PAUL
Stargazers will find it very easy to locate Mars this Saturday.

RACHEL
Mars is the yellowish (orange) star appearing above the moon after it gets dark. Mars is a terrestrial planet, or one like Earth. That means it has a rocky surface and atmosphere. The combination of atmosphere and rocky crust makes Mars a very dusty place. The fine dust coating its surface doesn’t come from the presence of liquid water. Instead, it comes from the sand-blasting of rocks by wind, just as we find on Earth’s deserts.

PAUL
One thing that Mars does not have is a planet-wide magnetic field. Earth’s magnetic field covers the entire planet and extends far into space. Because of its size and strength, the field protects life from dangerous radiation and prevents the sun’s solar wind and radiation from blowing our atmosphere away. Without a strong magnetic field, Mars most likely lost its atmosphere billions of years ago from solar wind. 

RACHEL
The latest spacecraft to study Mars is the InSight Lander. It’s carrying a seismograph and heat flow experiment to measure the planet’s vital signs. These instruments will help NASA measure the size of the Martian core, its temperature, and whether or not it’s still molten. A molten core is important; because it appears that the flow of liquid metal within a spinning core creates a planet-wide magnetic field   

PAUL
The InSight lander safely deployed its seismograph last December. That event required its robotic arm to lift the seismograph off its deck and then move it to a location just over five feet away from the lander. By placing the seismograph directly on the Martian surface and far from the lander, the lander won’t contaminate its data with its shaking and vibration. The heat flow experiment has yet to be placed on the Martian surface. 

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 11th, 12th, and 13th of January.

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.