Idaho Skies Transcript for May 13th and 14th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 13th and 14th. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
Earth’s orbit around the sun makes the sun appear to travel through 13 constellations. We call 12 of these the zodiac.

RACHEL
Zodiac has the same root word found in zoo. So listeners won’t be surprised that the word zodiac is from the Greek for circle of little animals. All but one of the zodiacal constellations are animals in one form or another. The one constellation that is not an animal is Libra the Scales. However, it used to be a part of Scorpius.

PAUL
Three of the constellations represent humans. Those are Gemini, Virgo, and Aquarius. Six are strictly animals, Aries the Ram, Taurus the Bull, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion, Scorpius the Scorpion, and Pisces the Fish. The remaining two are chimeras or mixtures of animals. These are Sagittarius the Centaur Archer and Capricornus, the half goat half fish.  

RACHEL
Technically, there’s nothing special about these constellations. If Earth’s orbit was tilted at a different angle, then the sun would appear to travel through a different set of constellations. Besides, the constellations and their boundaries are human inventions and not special to the universe overall.

PAUL
Because Earth’ spin axis wobbles every 26,000 years, the actual zodiacal constellation the sun occupies each day shifts. About 2,000 years ago, the sun resided in Cancer on the first day of summer. This is why we call the latitude of 23.5 degrees north the Tropic of Cancer. The latitude of 23.5 degrees south is called the Tropic of Capricorn for the opposite reason.

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 13th and 14th of May.

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.