Idaho Skies Transcript for the weekend of October 25th

STEVEN

Welcome to Idaho Skies for the weekend of October 25^th. We’re your hosts, Steven…

BENJAMIN

…and Benjamin.

PAUL

This weekend gives stargazers opportunities to see three terrestrial planets. They’re Mercury, Venus, and Mars.

STEVEN

Let’s start with the innermost planets, Mercury and Venus. When Mercury or Venus appear their highest above the horizon, astronomers call it an apparition. Unfortunately, many apparitions of Mercury are not very good. That’s because it orbits the too closely and its orbit appears inclined to our horizon.

BENJAMIN

Our best view of Mercury is on the days around the 25^th. You’ll have many days to see Mercury, so there’s no problem its cloudy. Mercury won’t be very bright, Venus in fact will stand out more than Mercury. So look left of the Evening star at around 7:00 PM for Mercury.

STEVEN

Mars is not an evening planet right now. So only stargazers who observe the sky during the morning are going to locate the planet. Saturday morning would be a great time because the moon will be close by. Now Mars won’t be very bright, and the moon will be a very narrow crescent.

BENJAMIN

So look in the very low east at about 7:00 AM. The moon’s narrow crescent may be filled in with sunlight that has reflected off of Earth. Mars will be the faint star beneath the moon and slightly right. Their distance apart will be 1.5 degrees. That’s three times the moon’s apparent diameter. 

PAUL   

Stargazers with an interest in planets will enjoy this weekend. Don’t forget however, that Jupiter and Saturn will also be visible in the evening after dark. Just look in the low south and southeast.

STEVEN

That’s Idaho Skies for the weekend of October 25^th.

BENJAMIN

Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.

For Idaho Skies this is Benjamin…

STEVEN

…and Steven.

BENJAMIN

Dark skies and bright stars.