Idaho Skies Transcript for March 20th and 21st

RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for March 20th and 21st. We’re your hosts, Rachel...

PAUL
...and Paul.

RACHEL
Spring begins on the 20th. Yippee!!

PAUL
Spring is called the Vernal Equinox - vernal for spring and equinox for equal night. On the Vernal Equinox, Earth’s spin axis aligns vertically with its orbital plane around the sun. As a result, the boundary between day and night, or its terminator runs from pole to pole. No matter where you live on Earth, the day and night will both be 12 hours long. 

RACHEL
On the 21st, the moon is full. If you want to be blinded by the light, then look at the moon through your binoculars. This is safe, but it will leave an after-image in your eyes that takes several minutes to clear. The thing about the full moon is that you don’t see shadows of craters on its surface; you’ll instead see how bright and dark its surface is.   

PAUL
Stargazers will notice that the full moon appears between bright stars on the 21st. One star is closer to the moon at its lower right. The other star is farther away and to the moon’s upper left. Stargazers will also notice the stars have distinctly different tints. The lower star is a white spark of light while the upper star has more of a ruddy glow.   

RACHEL
The lower star is named Spica and it’s the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden. The upper star is named Arcturus and it’s the brightest star of Bootes the Herdsman. One way to find these stars when the moon isn’t nearby is to follow the handle of the dipper. A line extending from the Dipper’s handle arcs to Arcturus and drives a spike to Spica.

PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 20th and 21st of March.

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.