STAR HUSTLER
THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION
STAR HUSTLER is seen nationally on most PBS stations. If it is not currently
on your PBS station we suggest you contact your local PBS programming director
and let them know it is available free to all PBS stations. You may take
a months worth of STAR HUSTLER off satellite for personal use, classroom
use, astronomy club use, etc.
1017th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/2/97 through Sunday 6/8/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and as most of you
may recall, on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, the planet Mars was at its
brightest in over 2 years because it was only 61 million miles away. But
by next week, on Triskaidekaphobia Day, 1997, it will be only 20% as bright
as it was on St. Paddy's Day, that's five times dimmer because it will be
43 million miles farther away. And to find it would ordinarily be a little
difficult because it is so much dimmer. But because we have a wonderful
First Quarter moon only 4 degrees away from it on Triskaidekaphobia Night
we'll still be able to locate it as easy as pie. Let me show you: OK, we're
facing southwest just as it gets dark out, Friday evening June 13th and
directly in front of you you'll be able to see an exquisite First Quarter
Moon and just off to its right, much dimmer than before, but still lovely,
the pale red planet Mars. Of course, by now you've probably figured out
that Triskaidekaphobia Day is simply Friday the 13th, Triskaidekaphobia
being a fancy-schmancy word meaning fear or phobia of the number 13. And
as you're gazing up at the Moon and Mars on this night you might ask yourself,
"What is all this stuff about Friday the 13th anyway?" Well according
to folklore there are 2 theories. One is that there were 13 people at The
Last Supper after which Christ was crucified on a Friday. Another version
says that there were 12 Norse Gods having dinner in Valhalla when an evil
13th god crashed the dinner party and caused the death of Baldur the Beautiful.
Even today the fear of the number 13 is so great it is almost impossible
to find an elevator , except in some very new buildings, where the 13th
floor is acknowledged. And long ago, ocean liners scheduled to sail on Friday
the 13th, frequently delayed departure until after midnight. And way back
when a decree was issued in French Lick Springs, Indiana that every Friday
the 13th all local black cats had to wear bells. My favorite of all though
is the old wives tale that says if you want to break the spell of a mirror
broken on Friday the 13th, go to the top of the highest mountain or building
near you and burn all your socks with holes in them; but somehow that smells
of a suggestion made by a sock manufacturer. On the other hand, however,
there are quite a few people who consider the number 13 lucky, so I'm suggesting
that we put a new word into the dictionary, Triskaidekaphilia, which would
mean the love of the number 13. You see in England it's considered lucky
to eat Christmas Pudding in 13 different houses before New Years Day. And
the "Old Farmer's Almanac" says that the USA is full of lucky
13's. For instance, George Washington laid the cornerstone for the White
House on the 13th. The cornerstone of the Supreme Court was also laid on
the 13th. There were 13 original colonies and the Great Seal of the United
States still contains 13 stars, 13 bars and an eagle with 13 tail feathers
holding 13 arrows and 13 olive branches. And 'E Pluribus Unum', Latin for
'out of many, one' also has 13 letters. So hate it or love it, this upcoming
Friday the 13th get thee outside to watch an exquisite First Quarter Moon
ride across heaven with Mars. And remember, luck, good or bad, is usually
what you make it, which is one of the reasons I always remind you to Keep
Looking Up!
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet Roundup from Sky
& Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
1018th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/9/97 through Sunday 6/15/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and once again we're
going to ask you to participate in something which the majority of people
on this planet have never really experienced. Indeed, we are going to prepare
you for the dramatic rising of a great star over our Earth's horizon...a
star so huge that we could fit one million three hundred thousand Earths
inside it... a star whose surface temperature is over 10 thousand degrees
Fahrenheit. Yes, we are going to ask you to observe the rising of the closest
star to our Earth, the only star we can see in the daytime, the star we
call our Sun, a star which would be better named our Day Star. And once
again we have chosen the first day of Summer, the Summer Solstice, which
this year is Saturday June 21st, as Day Star Day. But, many of you are undoubtedly
thinking, "You're talking about a sunrise, and I've seen thousands
of sunrises in my life." And yes, I am talking about a sunrise but
believe it or not, the majority of the people on this planet have never
truly experienced a sunrise, especially in our high-tech society. Oh yes,
there are millions of you out there who get up at the crack of dawn to get
ready for a day's work, farmers starting their chores, commuters catching
their trains or jamming the expressways as the Sun slowly creeps over the
horizon, but that is not experiencing a sunrise because to most people,
sunrise is a peripheral event and not the center of attention. And that's
why we have set aside this day so you can experience one of the grandest
events in nature... an experience which may change the way you view the
world forever. To participate, here's all you have to do : Simply mark Saturday,
June 21st as the day when you'll get up 15 minutes before twilight begins,
while it's still dark out. And whether you live in the heart of a city or
out in the country makes no difference because it's not the Sun itself that
you are going to observe when it rises. No, you're going to observe the
effects of the sunrise on everything all around you as night slowly turns
into day. Of course, it's best if you can be outside, but if not just sit
by a window. And now for the rules which are absolutely essential : No radio,
no television, no doing your normal wakeup routine, all distractions must
be eliminated. Simply sit quietly and when you see the sky slowly start
to brighten, look and listen and feel what happens all around you, for a
sunrise is not just visual. Indeed, you will hear the sounds of the world
waking up. You'll feel the wind change, the temperature change and
much, much more as night slowly slips into day. Keep track of all the subtle
changes you notice and record all your observations either on paper or even
better, into a tape recorder. And then play back your tape or read what
you've written a few hours or days later. And believe me, if you've never
done this before you're in for a pleasant surprise because really experiencing
the effects of a sunrise using all of your senses and your full attention
is one of the most wonderful and seldom experienced experiences this planet
has to offer, and one of nature's best reasons to Keep Looking Up!
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
STAR HUSTLER is seen nationally on most PBS stations. If it is not currently
on your PBS station we suggest you contact your local PBS programming director
and let them know it is available free to all PBS stations. You may take
a months worth of STAR HUSTLER off satellite for personal use, classroom
use, astronomy club use, etc.
1019th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/16/97 through Sunday 6/22/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers and yes indeed, I will
do anything to get your celestial sky-watching attention. And what better
way to get it than to tell you that during the first week of this Summer
of '97 the Moon will crash head-on into the ringed planet Saturn, the first
day of Summer being Saturday the 21st for the entire Northern Hemisphere.
And seeing as how we have a Full Moon this first day of Summer, this Saturday,
I figured we could use this Moon as it slowly shrinks in size night after
night to trace this head-on collision course with every body's favorite
planet. So, although you will indeed see a lovely Full Moon rising just
after sunset this Saturday, I would like you to start your Moon/Saturn collision
watch Monday the 23rd, and not after sunset but about an hour before sunrise.
Let me show you : OK we're facing due South, Monday morning the 23rd, about
1 hour before sunrise your local time where you will see a slightly less
than Full Moon off to brilliant planet Jupiter's right. And if you go out
1 hour before sunrise the next morning, Tuesday the 24th, you will see an
even less than Full Moon almost directly above Jupiter. And the next day,
Wednesday the 25th, an even skinnier Moon to Jupiter's left; and almost
directly below the Moon the one and only bright star in this entire part
of a star-starved region, the bright star Fomalhaut in the constellation
of the Southern Fish. Then if you go out the next morning, Thursday the
26th, the Moon will be up and to the left of Fomalhaut. And Friday the 27th,
a Last Quarter Moon will be zeroing in for its collision with Saturn the
next day. For yes indeed, on Saturday, June 28th, a slightly less than Last
Quarter Moon will almost visually clobber the ringed planet in a truly exquisite
meeting or what astronomers call a "conjunction" of these 2 beautiful
sky objects. A sight you won't want to miss. It will look absolutely fabulous
to the naked eye but through a pair of binoculars or a small telescope will
absolutely knock your socks off. Indeed, on Saturday morning, June 28th,
an exquisite slightly less than Last Quarter Moon will be only 2/10ths of
one degree away from Saturn. That's only about the width of 1/3rd of a Full
Moon. And as you gaze up at these two beauties I'd like you to keep in mind,
of course, that this near collision is only a visual illusion. In reality,
the actual distance between them almost staggers the imagination. Indeed,
although they appear so incredibly close together, our dinky Moon will
be less than a quarter of a million miles away Saturday morning whereas
humongous Saturn will be a staggering 900 million miles away. That's 3,600
times farther away. And Saturn is so huge compared to out Moon, we could
line up 88 of our Moons end to end across its rings. So make a date, Saturday
morning the 28th an hour before sunrise to see our Moon crash (almost) into
the ringed planet Saturn. And for heaven's sake what better reason do you
need to Keep Looking Up!
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
STAR HUSTLER is seen nationally on most PBS stations. If it is not currently
on your PBS station we suggest you contact your local PBS programming director
and let them know it is available free to all PBS stations. You may take
a months worth of STAR HUSTLER off satellite for personal use, classroom
use, astronomy club use, etc.
1020th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/23/97 through Sunday 6/29/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and do we ever have
a special sky for you this up-coming 4th of July. You see because the Moon
is New this 4th of July we'll have no moonlight whatsoever to wipe
out the contrast between the stars and the sky so if you stay outside after
the fireworks, around midnight on the 4th you'll see some absolutely sensational
sky goodies. Let me show you : OK we've got our skies set up for right around
midnight this 4th of July and if you simply face South, directly in front
of you, you will see two wonderful summer constellations, the one to the
right will look like a giant fish hook or capital letter 'J' and looks pretty
much like its name, Scorpius the Scorpion. And to its left the brightest
stars of Sagittarius, which when connected with lines look like an old fashioned
teapot, complete with a lid, spout and handle. And every 4th of July, around
midnight as long as there's no bright moonlight to wipe them out from view,
you'll see them just like this, smack dab due South. And if you're like
most amateur sky gazers, these two constellations will probably become your
very favorites of summer time because they are so easy to find and contain
absolutely remarkable objects. For instance, if you look at where the heart
of the Scorpion should be you'll see a brilliant red star named Antares
which literally pulsates and changes its brightness on a regular basis.
But even more remarkable is its size for it is 700 times the diameter of
our own Sun. In fact, if we could place one edge of Antares where our Sun
is, its opposite edge would extend beyond the orbits of Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, even the planet Jupiter. Indeed, we could fit over 200 million
of our own Suns inside Antares. Wow! And even more remarkable, if you look
just above the Stinger of Scorpius you will see two dim fuzzy patches named
M-6 and M-7. And although they don't look like much with the naked
eye, if you look at them through binoculars each of them will reveal itself
to be a cluster of over 100 super hot blue-white stars all born at
the same time, huddled together like stellar siblings. But the most awesome
spectacle of all awaits you, if you are far away from city lights, because
every 4th of July at midnight you will see a faint river of light running
all the way from the due South horizon up through Scorpius and Sagittarius,
to the very top of the sky itself, and back down again through the Summer
Triangle and Cassiopeia to the Northeast horizon. This is the marvelous
celestial skyway we call the Milky Way which is in reality a vast river
of billions of stars so far away that all their light fuzzes together in
a milky blur. In fact, if you look anywhere along the Milky Way through
a pair of binoculars you will see that it is peppered with hundreds of thousands
of pin points of light, each pin point a Sun as large as our own. So, now
you know what to look for after the fireworks. The giant red heart star
of the Scorpion, two great clusters of stars above its stinger, and a river
of stars forming an archway across the roof of heaven. What a wonderful
way to celebrate the 4th if you simply remember to Keep Looking Up!
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
STAR HUSTLER is seen nationally on most PBS stations. If it is not currently
on your PBS station we suggest you contact your local PBS programming director
and let them know it is available free to all PBS stations. You may take
a months worth of STAR HUSTLER off satellite for personal use, classroom
use, astronomy club use, etc.
1021st Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/30/97 through Sunday 7/6/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and as all you regular
PBS viewers know, any appearance of the '3 Tenors' is always a must-see.
And likewise, I think, if there is such a thing as the 'Music of the Spheres'
every summer a cosmic trio makes its annual appearance which is also a must-see.
Let me show you : OK, if you go outside any clear July evening after it
gets dark out, around 9 to 10 o'clock or so your local time, depending on
your latitude, all you have to do is look high up off the Eastern horizon
and there you will see 3 bright stars which, if you draw imaginary lines
between them, make up what we call the famous Summer Triangle. And if you're
far, far away from city lights on a moonless night you will notice that
two of these stars are embedded in that faint ribbon of celestial light
we call the Milky Way, while the brightest of the three is just off to the
side of it. Now these three stars are named, in the order of their brightness:
Vega, Altair, and Deneb. And in ancient times they were each part of constellations
that represented birds. And although Altair is still the brightest star
in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle and Deneb is the tail star of Cygnus
the Swan, the bird of which Vega was the brightest star has since been changed
into Lyra the Harp. Even so, I personally still think of these three stars
as three summer birds flying slowly across the roof of Summer skies. Of
course, our ancestors had no way of knowing the real wonder of these stars.
For instance, if these three stars were all the same distance away from
Earth we could safely assume that their size would follow the same order
as their brightness which would mean that Vega would be the biggest, Altair
the second biggest and Deneb the smallest in size. But since we now know
that all stars lie at different distances from Earth and that they vary
greatly in size, their apparent brightness is extremely deceiving. For instance,
although Vega appears the brightest, dimmer Altair is actually closer. Indeed,
while Altair is only 16 light years away, Vega is 26 light years away. And
although Altair is about 1 1/2 times the size of our Sun, Vega is 2 1/2
times its size which makes more distant Vega much brighter in Earth's skies
than Altair. But Deneb has them both beat hands down because although Deneb
is the dimmest in Earth's skies, it is simply because of its incredible
distance; indeed it is not a mere 16 light years away like Altair or a mere
26 light years away like Vega, but 1,800 light years beyond. And if it were
only 1 1/2 times the size of our Sun like Altair or 2 1/2 times the size
of our Sun like Vega, we wouldn't even see it with the naked eye. You see
Deneb is an incredible 115 times the diameter of our Sun. Or if you'd like
to think of it in another way, whereas Altair is 10 times as bright as our
Sun; Vega is 50 times as bright as our Sun; but Deneb is 80,000 times
as bright proving that in Heaven as well as on Earth appearances are deceiving.
Indeed, if Deneb were as close to Earth as Vega or Altair it would be the
brightest star in the sky. So get thee outside to experience these three
wonderful stars of Summer, which is simple if you just face East after sunset
and Keep Looking Up!
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
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