STAR GAZERS SG 1835-5M AUGUST 27- SEPTEMBER 2, 2018 LETS GO STAR HOPPING (REPEAT OF 1535)
DEAN: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS. I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATO-RY. JAMES: AND I'M JAMES
ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETAR-IUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY. THIS WEEK WE'RE
GOING TO SHARE A METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING STARS IN THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN SKY AFTER DARK. DEAN: ITS CALLED STAR HOPPING AND ITS
AN EASY WAY TO GO FROM A CON- STELLATION YOU KNOW TO OTHER CONSTELLATIONS YOU DONT KNOW. JAMES: SO, LETS GET HOPPING!
(STOP DROP) JAMES: OKAY WE HAVE OUR SKY SET UP FOR AFTER SUNSET ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK FACING NORTH. LETS START OFF FINDING A
LANDMARK IN THE SKY. HMM, I GUESS THAT WOULD BE CALLED A SKY-MARK ANYWAY, DO YOU SEE THE BIG DIPPER? DEAN:
YEP, THERE IT IS - HANGING IN THE NORTH-WEST, LOOKING LIKE ITS GOING TO SCOOP US UP! THE BIG DIPPER IS ONE OF THE EASIEST THINGS TO FIND IN THE NIGHT SKY SINCE
ITS SO DISTINCTIVE. JAMES: AND ITS VISIBLE IN THE SKY ALMOST ALL YEAR. DEAN: NOW LET'S START STAR HOPPING!
WE'RE GOING TO BEGIN BY USING THE TWO STARS ON THE END OF THE SPOON OF THE BIG DIPPER NAMED MERAK AND DUBHE. CONNECT THE DOTS ON THESE TWO STARS AND
CONTINUE THAT LINE UP AND TO THE RIGHT AND YOULL RUN SMACK DAB INTO A STAR OF SIMILAR BRIGHTNESS. THIS IS THE MOST FAMOUS AND IMPORTANT STAR
IN THE SKY - POLARIS, A.K.A. THE NORTH STAR. JAMES: THE NORTH STAR MARKS THE END OF THE MUCH FAINTER LITTLE DIPPER OR LITTLE
BEAR CONSTELLATION, URSA MINOR. THE ENTIRE LITTLE DIPPER IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE OUT IN A LIGHT POLLUTED SKY BUT AT LEAST YOU KNOW HOW
TO HOP TO IT. (STOP) DEAN: NOW WE'RE GOING TO MAKE ANOTHER HOP. GO FROM DUBHE TO POLARIS AND
THEN CONTINUE THAT LINE TO THE NEXT EQUALLY- BRIGHT STAR CALLED CAPH. CAPH IS THE STAR, AT THE TOP OF A W-SHAPED GROUP OF STARS, MARKING THE
QUEEN NAMED CASSIOPEIA. JAMES: I KNOW IT'S REALLY TOUGH TO PICTURE THESE STARS AS A QUEEN SO JUST LOOK FOR THE W-SHAPE.
I PICTURE THE STARS AS QUEEN CASSIOPEIAS CROWN. DEAN: OH, I COULD SEE THAT! AND DID YOU NOTICE THAT THE HOP WE MADE FROM
DUBHE TO POLARIS IS THE SAME LENGTH AS THE HOP FROM POLARIS TO CAPH? JAMES: AHA! THAT MAKES IT EASY FOR YOU TO TELL THAT
YOU'RE ON THE CORRECT STAR. (STOP) DEAN: NOW WE'VE TURNED TO FACE NORTH-EAST. POLARIS IS OVER THERE CAPH
AND CASSIOPEIA ARE THERE. AND IF YOU CONTINUE THE LINE BETWEEN POLARIS AND CAPH AND KEEP GOING IT'LL RUN YOU INTO ANOTHER
EQUALLY BRIGHT STAR. JAMES: THIS ONE IS CALLED ALPHERATZ AND ITS A CORNER TO A GREAT SQUARE OF FOUR STARS
THAT MARK THE BODY OF PEGASUS THE FLYING HORSE. DEAN: YEP, HES FLYING UPSIDE-DOWN. JAMES: ONCE AGAIN
NOTICE THAT THE DISTANCE OF EACH HOP IS THE SAME. FROM POLARIS TO CAPH AND CAPH TO ALPHERATZ. DEAN: SO NOW YOU CAN START WITH
SOMETHING YOU KNOW - THE BIG DIPPER - AND HOP TO FIND THE LITTLE DIPPER, CASSIOPEIA, AND PEGASUS. NOW, LETS FLY IN FOR A CLOSER LOOK AT THAT FLYING HORSE.
(STOP - IN SPACE) JAMES: THE GREAT SQUARE OF PEGASUS IS GREAT. IT TAKES UP A LOT OF SPACE IN THE SKY. HOWEVER
THERE ARE NOT MANY BRIGHT STARS INSIDE THE SQUARE. THATS ANOTHER WAY I OFTEN FIND PEGASUS IN THE SKY. I LOOK FOR A GREAT EMPTY SQUARE.
DEAN: THERE'S REALLY LOTS OF STARS THERE. THEY'RE JUST BEYOND NA-KED EYE VISION. LETS CHECK OUT PEGASUS NOSE
STAR. ITS CALLED ENIF AND IT SHINES ORANGE-RED. JAMES: ITS ALMOST THE EXACT COLOR OF BETELGEUSE, THE ARMPIT STAR OF ORION.
A STARS COLOR ALSO TELLS US IT'S TEMPERATURE AND BLUE MEANS SUPER-HOT, AND RED MEANS KINDA COOL DEAN: IF BY COOL, YOU
MEAN 5000 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. JAMES: YEP. COMPARE THAT TO ALGENIB OVER THERE. THAT STAR AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SQUARE IS
37,000 DE-GREES FAHRENHEIT. ITS BLUE AFTER ALL! DEAN: BUT BACK TO ENIF. SCAN JUST ABOVE PEGA-SUS NOSE WITH A
TELE-SCOPE AND YOU'LL FIND A GLOBULAR CLUSTER OF STARS CALLED M15. WOW, CHECK THAT OUT! YOU'RE SEEING OVER 100,000 STARS SHINING AT YOU
FROM OVER 33,000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY. M15 IS A HIDDEN GEM IN THE SEPTEMBER SKY. (STOP) (CLOSE-UP ENDING)
DEAN: SO TRY SOME STAR HOPPING TONIGHT. HOP FROM THE BIG DIPPER JAMES: TO THE LITTLE DIPPER
DEAN: TO CASSIOPEIA JAMES: TO PEGASUS. DEAN: THEN, WITH A TELESCOPE, HOP FROM PEGASUS
NOSE TO FIND M15, AN AMAZING GLOBULAR CLUSTER. ITS ALL THERE WHEN YOU BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!
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