BENJAMIN
Welcome to Idaho Skies for
the weekend of October 18th. We’re your hosts, Benjamin…
STEVEN
…and Steven.
PAUL
Saturday night the moon appears
close to a star cluster named M-35. It’s in the constellation of Gemini the
Twins.
BENJAMIN
The Gemini brothers are named
Castor and Pollux. Their mother was Leda, a mortal woman and wife of king
Tyndareus. Her twin sons had two fathers, her husband the king and Zeus, the
king of the Greek gods. Castor was mortal while his brother Pollux was
immortal.
STEVEN
The constellation appears on its
side during October. Its two brightest stars are located on the north end of
the constellation and named after each twin. The brightest star and the one
closer to the horizon is Pollux. While the slightly fainter star above Pollux
is Castor.
BENJAMIN
Castor is called the alpha star of
the constellation, even though it’s the second brightest. Castor appears as a
single star, but is actually three pairs of binary stars. That means six stars
are orbiting each other in the Castor star system. At 51 light years away,
Castor appears as a triple star in a good telescope.
STEVEN
On the evening of the 19th,
a pair of binoculars aimed at the gibbous moon will also show you the M-35 star
cluster. The cluster will appear as a hazy spot in dark skies. Its location
will be left of the moon. However, you’ll want to shift your binoculars to the
left to remove the moon form your field of view.
PAUL
Be sure to check out Gemini the
Heavenly Twins this weekend. They will appear to be lying on their side in
October, but standing upright this spring.
BENJAMIN
That’s Idaho Skies
for the weekend of October 18th.
STEVEN
Be sure to read our blog for additional information.
It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.
For Idaho Skies this is Steven…
BENJAMIN
…and Benjamin.
STEVEN
Dark skies and bright stars.
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