STEVEN
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the weekend of October 11th. We’re your hosts, Steven...
BENJAMIN
...and Benjamin.
PAUL
Hey, the moon is full on Sunday the 13th. That makes this weekend a great time to learn about the difference between lunar maria and highlands.
STEVEN
Current understanding suggests that the moon, or Luna, formed after the impact of a Mars-sized object with the newly born Earth. Since the impact was glancing, it blasted a lot of Earth’s outer layer, or mantle into space. The minerals in the mantle rock tend to have a low density.
BENJAMIN
The vaporized rock the impact let in orbit around Earth was low in iron. That created a moon that was light whitish in color, once it cooled, that is. We see this material in in the brighter parts of the moon. And since it originated with the impact, lunar areas that are brighter in color are around 3.8 billion years old.
STEVEN
Three point eight billion years ago, the solar system was still swarming with planetary building blocks, or planetesimals. These giant meteoroids occasionally slammed into the moon creating huge craters called impact basins. Impact basins also deeply cracked the lunar crust.
BENJAMIN
After the moon’s surface cooled, its interior remained warm. Partly from the initial impact but also from radioactive decay. The warm interior created magma or lava that welled up into the impact basins. Layer after layer of dark lava filled the impact basins to create mostly dark circular features.
PAUL
So the moon started out as a light-colored body that was repeatedly smashed in horrific impacts. These then filled in with darker lava to create the lunar seas and the Man-on-the-Moon face we enjoy today.
STEVEN
That’s Idaho Skies for the weekend of October 11th.
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.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Transcript the Week of October 7th
STEVEN
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the week of October 7th. We’re your hosts, Steven...
DAN
...and Dan.
PAUL
Autumn skies are filled with constellations representing watery themes. Unfortunately, they contain stars that are mostly dim.
STEVEN
The moon swims through these constellations this week. The first constellation of note is Capricornus. This constellation represents a chimera of a goat and fish. Hence, it’s called the sea goat. In dark skies. Capricorn looks like a grinning mouth. Over two thousand years ago, the sun was in Capricornus on the first day of winter.
DAN
East of Capricornus is an even fainted constellation named Aquarius. The aqua in Aquarius obviously means water in Latin. The last half of the name means carrier. So Aquarius is the water carrier of bearer. He’s depicted as pouring a jar or vase of water, with the vase being a circle of stars.
STEVEN
The water of Aquarius flows south into the mouth of the Southern Fish which astronomers call Piscis Austrinus. The brightest star of Piscis Austrinus is visible below the moon on the evening of the 9th. The star’s name is Fomalhaut. It’s close to the solar system compared to other stars.
DAN
Fomalhaut is a young star; astronomers estimate it’s only 400 million years old. Fomalhaut has the distinction of the being the first solar system imaged from Earth. Back in 2008, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to see a planet orbiting Fomalhaut. The planet is roughly Jupiter size.
PAUL
Don’t be surprised you can’t see many stars in the south these evenings. But do take advantage of the moon on the 9th to find the brightest star, Fomalhaut.
STEVEN
That’s Idaho Skies for the week of October 7th.
DAN
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @IdahoSkies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.
For Idaho Skies this is Dan...
STEVEN
...and Steven.
WHO
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for the week of October 7th. We’re your hosts, Steven...
DAN
...and Dan.
PAUL
Autumn skies are filled with constellations representing watery themes. Unfortunately, they contain stars that are mostly dim.
STEVEN
The moon swims through these constellations this week. The first constellation of note is Capricornus. This constellation represents a chimera of a goat and fish. Hence, it’s called the sea goat. In dark skies. Capricorn looks like a grinning mouth. Over two thousand years ago, the sun was in Capricornus on the first day of winter.
DAN
East of Capricornus is an even fainted constellation named Aquarius. The aqua in Aquarius obviously means water in Latin. The last half of the name means carrier. So Aquarius is the water carrier of bearer. He’s depicted as pouring a jar or vase of water, with the vase being a circle of stars.
STEVEN
The water of Aquarius flows south into the mouth of the Southern Fish which astronomers call Piscis Austrinus. The brightest star of Piscis Austrinus is visible below the moon on the evening of the 9th. The star’s name is Fomalhaut. It’s close to the solar system compared to other stars.
DAN
Fomalhaut is a young star; astronomers estimate it’s only 400 million years old. Fomalhaut has the distinction of the being the first solar system imaged from Earth. Back in 2008, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to see a planet orbiting Fomalhaut. The planet is roughly Jupiter size.
PAUL
Don’t be surprised you can’t see many stars in the south these evenings. But do take advantage of the moon on the 9th to find the brightest star, Fomalhaut.
STEVEN
That’s Idaho Skies for the week of October 7th.
DAN
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @IdahoSkies for this week’s event reminders and sky maps.
For Idaho Skies this is Dan...
STEVEN
...and Steven.
WHO
Dark skies and bright stars.
Monday, May 20, 2019
Idaho Skies Transcript for May 20th and 21st
RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 20th and 21st. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
Today we celebrate astronomer Williamina Fleming.
PAUL
She was born in Scotland on May 15th, 1857 and died in the United States on May 21st, 1911. She started working as a maid at the Harvard Observatory at age 21. The observatory’s director later assigned her to clerical work and then finally as a computer. In the late 19th century, computers were people, usually women, who performed mathematical calculations for scientists.
RACHEL
Astronomers at the time were trying to create a classification scheme for stars. There isn’t enough information in just the color of a star, but there is if you split its colors up with a spectroscope. So astronomers spent minutes and even hours photographing stars though a spectroscope.
PAUL
The lines appearing in a star’s spectrum indicates the elements in its outer atmosphere. There’s also information on the star’s surface temperature buried within its spectra. However, astronomers needed a meaningful way to classify these spectra. And Ms. Fleming determined to way to do this based on the amount of hydrogen displayed in each star’s spectra.
RACHEL
Willimina also famous to discovering a very faint star that was intensely hot. Hot stars tend to be bright stars. Since it wasn’t bright, the star had to be very small. On the order of planet small. These dense white-hot stars were eventually named white dwarfs and they represent the end of life for low mass stars like the sun.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 20th and 21st of May.
RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com
For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 20th and 21st. We’re your hosts, Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
Today we celebrate astronomer Williamina Fleming.
PAUL
She was born in Scotland on May 15th, 1857 and died in the United States on May 21st, 1911. She started working as a maid at the Harvard Observatory at age 21. The observatory’s director later assigned her to clerical work and then finally as a computer. In the late 19th century, computers were people, usually women, who performed mathematical calculations for scientists.
RACHEL
Astronomers at the time were trying to create a classification scheme for stars. There isn’t enough information in just the color of a star, but there is if you split its colors up with a spectroscope. So astronomers spent minutes and even hours photographing stars though a spectroscope.
PAUL
The lines appearing in a star’s spectrum indicates the elements in its outer atmosphere. There’s also information on the star’s surface temperature buried within its spectra. However, astronomers needed a meaningful way to classify these spectra. And Ms. Fleming determined to way to do this based on the amount of hydrogen displayed in each star’s spectra.
RACHEL
Willimina also famous to discovering a very faint star that was intensely hot. Hot stars tend to be bright stars. Since it wasn’t bright, the star had to be very small. On the order of planet small. These dense white-hot stars were eventually named white dwarfs and they represent the end of life for low mass stars like the sun.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 20th and 21st of May.
RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com
For Idaho Skies this is Rachel…
PAUL
…and Paul.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Potential Auroras
Sunspot AR2741 is an active site on the sun. It's hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) our way that could result in Idaho seeing the Northern Lights. so be on the look out Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Sunspot AR2741
Sunspot AR2741 is larger than Earth. In this image, you can see the darker umbra and that it's surrounded by a lighter penumbra.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Idaho Skies Transcript for May 17th, 18th, and 19th
PAUL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 17th, 18th, and 19th. We’re your hosts, Paul...
RACHEL
...and Rachel.
BRING DOWN MUSIC
PAUL
On our last show, we mentioned that there was a cluster of galaxies residing in Virgo.
RACHEL
Galaxy clusters consist of hundreds to over a thousand galaxies bound together by their mutual gravity. The combined mass of all the stars inside a galaxy cluster can equal one quadrillion times the mass of our sun. From one end to the other, they can stretch tens of millions of light years across.
PAUL
Greater than the mass of all the stars in all the galaxies of a galaxy cluster is the gas trapped between them. Galaxy clusters have almost ten times as much gas than stars. Massive black holes inside the centers of the galaxies heat the gas until it emits x-rays.
RACHEL
Did you know that galaxy clusters are not the largest structures in the universe? Galaxy clusters combine with others to create superclusters. Let’s start with our puny little Milky Way galaxy. It’s only 100,000 light years across. It belongs to the Local Group of 54 galaxies, including the Andromeda Galaxy.
PAUL
Our Local Group is an outlying member of the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Cluster on the other hand is just but a part of the Laniakea Supercluster. Our Local Group of 54 galaxies only spans 2% of the Laniakea Supercluster’s 500 million light year diameter. Astronomers estimate that there are 100,000 galaxies in the Laniakea Supercluster.
RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 17th, 18th, and 19th 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.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 17th, 18th, and 19th. We’re your hosts, Paul...
RACHEL
...and Rachel.
BRING DOWN MUSIC
PAUL
On our last show, we mentioned that there was a cluster of galaxies residing in Virgo.
RACHEL
Galaxy clusters consist of hundreds to over a thousand galaxies bound together by their mutual gravity. The combined mass of all the stars inside a galaxy cluster can equal one quadrillion times the mass of our sun. From one end to the other, they can stretch tens of millions of light years across.
PAUL
Greater than the mass of all the stars in all the galaxies of a galaxy cluster is the gas trapped between them. Galaxy clusters have almost ten times as much gas than stars. Massive black holes inside the centers of the galaxies heat the gas until it emits x-rays.
RACHEL
Did you know that galaxy clusters are not the largest structures in the universe? Galaxy clusters combine with others to create superclusters. Let’s start with our puny little Milky Way galaxy. It’s only 100,000 light years across. It belongs to the Local Group of 54 galaxies, including the Andromeda Galaxy.
PAUL
Our Local Group is an outlying member of the Virgo Cluster. The Virgo Cluster on the other hand is just but a part of the Laniakea Supercluster. Our Local Group of 54 galaxies only spans 2% of the Laniakea Supercluster’s 500 million light year diameter. Astronomers estimate that there are 100,000 galaxies in the Laniakea Supercluster.
RACHEL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 17th, 18th, and 19th 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.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Idaho Skies Transcript for May 15th and 16th
RACHEL
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 15th and 16th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...
PAUL
...and Paul.
RACHEL
The evening sky during spring is devoid of bright stars.
PAUL
In fact, the only event this week involving the moon and bright stars occurs on the 15th when the gibbous moon appears above Spica. Spica is the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden. The star is a giant binary star 250 light years away. To be visible that far away, it must be 20,000 times brighter than the sun.
RACHEL
The mythology of Virgo associates her as a goddess of either harvest or of justice. So it’s not surprising that her brightest star, Spica is named after an ear of grain. And as a goddess of justice, it’s not surprising that her neighboring constellation is Libra the Scales.
PAUL
Our listeners won’t see very many stars surrounding Spica. Although Virgo is a large constellation, it’s filled with widely-spaced dim stars. The reason why this region of the sky is so blank is that points up through the North Pole of the Milky Way galaxy. That means we’re looking though less galactic volume during spring nights.
RACHEL
On the other hand, with fewer stars comes less obscuring gas and dust. As a result, astronomers can see more galaxies in this region of the sky. For example, the Virgo Cluster is a gravitationally-bound cluster of over 1,000 galaxies. Its center lies 53 million light years away.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 15th and 16th of May.
RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.
For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...
PAUL
...and Paul.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
Welcome to Idaho Skies for May 15th and 16th. We’re your hosts, Rachel...
PAUL
...and Paul.
RACHEL
The evening sky during spring is devoid of bright stars.
PAUL
In fact, the only event this week involving the moon and bright stars occurs on the 15th when the gibbous moon appears above Spica. Spica is the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden. The star is a giant binary star 250 light years away. To be visible that far away, it must be 20,000 times brighter than the sun.
RACHEL
The mythology of Virgo associates her as a goddess of either harvest or of justice. So it’s not surprising that her brightest star, Spica is named after an ear of grain. And as a goddess of justice, it’s not surprising that her neighboring constellation is Libra the Scales.
PAUL
Our listeners won’t see very many stars surrounding Spica. Although Virgo is a large constellation, it’s filled with widely-spaced dim stars. The reason why this region of the sky is so blank is that points up through the North Pole of the Milky Way galaxy. That means we’re looking though less galactic volume during spring nights.
RACHEL
On the other hand, with fewer stars comes less obscuring gas and dust. As a result, astronomers can see more galaxies in this region of the sky. For example, the Virgo Cluster is a gravitationally-bound cluster of over 1,000 galaxies. Its center lies 53 million light years away.
PAUL
That’s Idaho Skies for the 15th and 16th of May.
RACHEL
Be sure to read our blog for additional information. It’s at idahoskies.blogspot.com.
For Idaho Skies this is Rachel...
PAUL
...and Paul.
RACHEL
Dark skies and bright stars.
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