PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for February 13th and 14th. We’re your hosts, Paul...
RACHEL
...and Rachel.
PAUL
The moon appears in Taurus the Bull and near its largest star cluster during the middle of the week.
RACHEL
The Hyades is a large star cluster. It’s not compact like the older globular clusters. Instead, it’s spread out and relatively young. Astronomers believe that the stars in this cluster are only 625 million years old. While that may seem old to us, to the sun and solar system, this is incredibly young.
PAUL
When the solar system was that young, Earth was near the end of the Hadean Eon. There are very few Earth rocks from this age for geologists to study. The available evidence however, suggests that Earth’s crust had just solidified by this time and that bodies of water existed on its surface. Earth’s atmosphere must have been much denser during this time in order to keep the oceans liquid on such a hot planet.
RACHEL
So if Earth is a typical example, any planets in the Hyades must be sterile of life. But if a planet’s atmosphere is clear, its sky would be loaded with bright stars. That’s because stars are packed about four times more densely in the Hyades than in the sun’s neighborhood. Just imagine what it would be like to stand on a planet with lots of volcanoes and geysers, while admiring its star-filled sky.
PAUL
To see the Hyades, just look to the right of the moon. The Hyades appears as a V-shape grouping of stars. The bright orange star closest to the moon is named Aldebaran, but it’s not really a member of the Hyades - it just happens to line directly between the Hyades and the solar system. Your best view of this star cluster is through a pair of binoculars. Don’t use a telescope, as it will magnify too much.
RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 13th and 14th 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.
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