Idaho Skies Transcript for the weekend of December 13th

BENJAMIN

Welcome to Idaho Skies for the weekend of December 13^th. We’re your hosts, Benjamin…

PAUL

…and Paul.

BENJAMIN

The moon visits Pollux, one of the Gemini Twins on the 13^th. Twin brother Pollux is the row of stars on the left and right sides of the moon. Its brightest star, also named Pollux, is on the left and it represents the head of this celestial brother. In the Gemini myth, Pollux is the immortal brother of the two. 

PAUL

This weekend, the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak intensity. Stargazers can normally expect to see upwards of 100 meteors per hour from this shower. The meteoroids of this shower travel so fast that they create white-hot shock waves. So that meteor streak you see is really the thin atmosphere glowing white hot from the passage of the meteoroid.  

BENJAMIN

Unfortunately, the nearly full moon rises in Gemini. That’s the same constellation that the Geminid meteor shower originates from. Therefore, strong moon light will out-shine most of the meteors of this shower. Your best bet to see Geminids therefore is to look for them overhead and not in the east where the moon is located.

PAUL

On Sunday night, you’ll find the moon a short distance from the Beehive star cluster. So get your binoculars out and aim them at the moon. Then shift them downwards until the moon leaves the view at the 1 o’clock position. At the bottom of your view will be a cluster of over a dozen tightly packed stars.

BENJAMIN

That’s Idaho Skies for the weekend of December 13^th.

PAUL

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

For Idaho Skies this is Paul…

BENJAMIN

…and Benjamin.

PAUL

Dark skies and bright stars.