Idaho Skies Transcript for May 8th and 9th

PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 8th and 9th. We’re your hosts, Paul...

RACHEL
...and Rachel.

PAUL
On the 8th and 9th, the moon passes through Gemini the Twins.

RACHEL
Gemini is one of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy back in second century AD. In mythology, Gemini represents the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. Their mother was Leda, the queen of Sparta. Her twin sons had two fathers, her husband Tyndareus and the Greek god Zeus.

PAUL
Castor was the mortal brother while Pollux was immortal. The brothers are famous for being sailors on Jason’s voyage to find the Golden Fleece. Their presence onboard the Argo helped calm the sea during a rough patch of their journey. Since then, sailors have considered the Gemini Twins to be their protectors. 

RACHEL
Gemini is one of the12 constellations of the Zodiac. This means the constellation lies along the elliptic and that sun, moon, and planets can appear within it. Its brightest two stars are named Castor and Pollux, with Pollux being the slight brighter one. One of the best meteor showers appears in Gemini and peaks on the night of December 13th and 14th.     

PAUL
Castor appears as a single star to our eyes and as three stars through a small telescope. It turns out that astronomers using a spectroscope can detect that each of those stars is actually two in orbit around each other. Pollux on the other hand is just a single star. But a giant yellow-orange star nine times larger than our sun. 

RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 8th and 9th 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.