STAR GAZER
THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION
1069th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/1/98 through Sunday 6/7/98
Greetings, greetings fellow stargazers and this week
let's roll back the centuries and look upon a distant spring time when love
was as fresh and new and wonderful as it is now. I'd like to tell you an
ancient tale which focuses on the star pattern that is the symbol of spring
itself, Leo the lion, who serves as an annual reminder of both the happiness
of love won and the tragedy of love lost, as perennial as spring itself.
To find Leo simply go outside any clear night this week just after sunset
and look west and there you'll see him. Our story was told by the great
Roman poet Ovid over two thousand years ago. Surely most Roman children,
at one time or another, heard this tale - the tale of of two young lovers:
handsome Pyramus and the beautiful Thisbe. Like Romeo and Juliet, the young
lovers in Shakespeare's time, Pyramus and Thisbe had to love in secret because
their parents were against the match. And like Romeo stealthily seeking
out Juliet in the dark of the night, climbing up trees to her balcony, Pyramus
likewise met Thisbe in the dark of night and they talked to each other of
love through cracks in the wall which separated their homes from one another.
Unable even to touch each other because of this wall, finally one moonlit
night they decided to risk the anger of their parents and agreed to secretly
meet in a distant woods.
But Thisbe, arriving first, was horrified to see in the shadows of a large
tree, a huge lion devouring a traveller taken by surprise. Frightened, she
quietly ran off to warn Pyramus and to get help but as she ran she lost
her veil which fluttered past the lion who snatched at it and stained it
with the traveller's blood. Then Pyramus, arriving a short time later, saw
the veil which he immediately recognized and with no other thought but that
the lion had killed Thisbe, Pyramus attacked the lion with his small sword.
But Pyramus was no match and was quickly killed. Meanwhile, Thisbe who was
unable to find any help whatsoever, rushed back to the woods desperately
hoping that she was not too late to warn her lover. But when she found Pyramus
he was already dead and she fell upon his body in grief. Well, you can guess
the rest, because lurking in the shadows still was the lion; and on seeing
Thisbe, he killed her too. Thus as with Romeo and Juliet, Pyramus and Thisbe
were finally united forever but in death. Their families, upon seeing both
their children taken from them forever, realized the folly of their quarrel,
but too late.
It was said that the lion's attack was so severe that a nearby mulberry
tree was completely covered with the lovers' blood and that ever since,
even to this day mulberry trees bear red fruit instead of white. It was
also said that Jupiter took such pity on these two young lovers that as
a constant reminder to mankind of true love, he put Thisbe's veil among
the stars where we can see it flutter still, wafted by an eternal cosmic
wind, directly behind the lion in the stars of Coma Berenices. And to see
this veil for yourself all you have to do is remember to Keep Looking Up!
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode of Star Gazer
For graphics for this script (Click) Here
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet Roundup from Sky
& Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
1070th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/8/98 through Sunday 6/14/98
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow stargazers
and mark Sunday, June 21st, one hour before sunrise as the day and time
to get out of bed to watch the Sun rise because greeting this first day
of summer, 1998 - the day of the Summer Solstice - will be a celestial sky
show not often seen. Now most of you regular viewers know that every year
on the morning of the Summer Solstice I plead with you to go outside an
hour or so before sunrise to watch the Sun come up and to notice all the
wonderful effects in nature that occur. But this year instead of just watching
the effects of sunrise on the first day of summer, you will also be greeted
by an exquisite grouping of celestial objects. And you can watch this grouping
start to assemble itself all next week.
Let me show you: O.K., we've got our skies set up for Tuesday, morning June
16th, an hour before sunrise and if you look to the southeast you will see
the biggest planet of them all, 88,000 mile wide Jupiter. And then down
to its left, almost directly due east, 75,000 mile wide Saturn. And down
to its left the much smaller but much brighter 8,000 mile wide Venus. And
these are the three planetary members of our Summer Solstice sky show. But
to add to the show we have our nearest neighbor in space, our dinky 2,000
mile wide Moon which will be only one day before last quarter and up to
the right of Jupiter.
But by the next morning, Wednesday the 17th, one hour before sunrise the
Moon will have become last quarter and will be parked right smack dab next
to old 'Jupe'. The following morning, Thursday the 18th, it will be slightly
smaller and will have drifted right between Jupiter and Saturn. On the 19th
it will be just to the side of Saturn and on Saturday the 20th, just below
it. But, ta da! the most exquisite view will be one hour before sunrise
June 21st, the day of the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer. Wow!
You will see a very very old sliver of a Moon just to the right of Venus
and up to Venus' left the exquisite Seven Sisters. How wonderful ... the
seven daughters of Atlas- the Pleiades, the Goddess of Love-Venus, and the
Goddess of the Night-our Moon, all lined up in a perfect row.
And while you're out there celebrating the solstice, think of this, and
that is that all of this togetherness is really a grand illusion because
on this morning, the 21st, the Moon will be only 227,000 miles away while
Venus will be 120 million miles away. Jupiter will be 450 million miles
beyond, and Saturn 900 million miles. But the exquisite Seven Sisters will
be 400-plus light years away. Wow! And after you've spotted all these beauties
welcoming in the new season why not just stay outside and watch the effects
of sunrise as it transforms your part of the planet from the last night
of spring to the first day of summer, because if you do you may be able
to win a copy of our brand new video "Make The Stars Your Own"
which I'll tell you about in next week's episode. And until then remember
to Keep Looking Up!
Starry
Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode of Star Gazer
For graphics for this script (Click) Here
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
1071st Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/15/98 through Sunday 6/21/98
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers,
and this week we once again want you to celebrate the summer solstice with
us by observing the rising of our closest star to our Earth, the only star
we can see in the daytime, the star we call our Sun. A star so huge we could
fit over one million Earths inside it, a star whose temperature is over
10,000 degrees Fahreheit. And right now some of you are probably 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 people on this planet have never truly experienced a
sunrise because to most people sunrise is always a peripheral event and
not the center of one's attention. And so that's why every year we set aside
the Summer Solstice and call it 'Day Star Day' so you can experience one
of the grandest events in nature, an experience which may change the way
you view our Earth forever. .
To participate here's what you do: mark this Sunday, June 21st, the first
day of summer as the day when you'll get up while it's still dark out, before
twilight begins. And whether you live in the heart of the city or out in
the country makes no difference because it's not the Sun itself that you're
going to observe when it rises. No, you are going to observe the effects
of the sunrise on everything all around you as night slowly turns into day.
It's best if you can be outside but if not just sit by a window. Now for
the rules which are absolutely essential. No radio, no television, no doing
your normal wake-up 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 sunrise is not just
visual. No indeed, you will hear the sounds of our Earth and its creatures
waking up, feel the wind change, the temperature change and much much more
as night slowly slips into day. Keep track of and write down or record all
the subtle changes you notice, what you see, hear, feel. Then when you're
finished send your observations to "Star Gazer" Day Star Day,
P.O. Box 2, Miami, Florida 33261. A panel of judges will select ten of the
most outstanding and original reports and those ten will receive a copy
of our brand new video "Make The Stars Your Own".
And to top it off, this year there's an extra added attraction for Day Star
Day, a spectacular sky show in the east where just before sunrise you will
see dazzling Venus lined up in a row with the Seven Sisters and an exquisite
crescent Moon. And up higher in the east the planets Saturn and Jupiter.
Believe me, if you've never taken the time to really watch our Day Star
rise over the horizon you're in for a big surprise because experiencing
the effects of a sunrise, using all of your senses, is one of the most wonderful
experiences this planet has to offer. And with this year's added sky show
and the solstice coming on a weekend it will be perfect for an outing with
family or friends and one more good reason to Keep Looking Up!
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode of Star Gazer
For graphics for this script (Click) Here
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
1072nd Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/22/98 through Sunday 6/28/98
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers,
and since people in the Northern Hemisphere spend a lot more time outside
at night in summer than in winter, and since a lot of you will be outside
just after sunset watching fireworks on the 4th of July weekend, I thought
it only fair to call your attention to the brightest star of summer which
is the 4th brightest star we can see from planet Earth, and which will be
almost overhead for lots of people.
Let me show you: O. K., we've got our skies set up for any night the next
couple of weeks just after it gets dark out and if you look towards the
north you will be able to see our old friend the Big Dipper. Four stars
mark his cup and three stars three stars mark his handle and if you use
our old handle trick you will be able to find summer's brightest star quick
as a wink. Simply extend a line which has the same curvature, the same arc
as the arc in the Dipper's handle and you will arc to Arcturus which is
the brightest star of summer, and the brightest star of the constellation
Bootes, the Herdsman. It is a fascinating star and compared to our Sun is
somewhat mind boggling. Indeed, it is about 115 times as luminous as our
Sun. And if we could place our Sun side by side next to Arcturus, it would
look like a dwarf because although our Sun is almost a million miles wide,
it would take 20 of our Suns lined up end to end to equal the diameter of
Arcturus. Or, if you'd like to think of it in really mind boggling terms,
since it would take 108 of our Earths lined up end to end to stretch across
the middle of our Sun, it would take over 2,000 Earths to stretch across
Arcturus' middle. Wow!
Now because Arcturus is such a bright star and shines almost overhead in
early evening much of Summer, back in 1933 it was used to open the World's
Fair in Chicago. You see, 40 years prior to 1933, in 1893, there had been
another World's Fair in Chicago and since astronomers had determined that
Arcturus was 40 light years away, it meant that the light of Arcturus seen
in 1933 was the light that left it forty years earlier when the previous
World's Fair opened. So it was decided to open up the '33 Fair by training
the light from Arcturus through a telescope onto a photoelectric cell which
would turn on all the lights of '33 Chicago Fair. And it worked! With much
hoopla and applause. But there was one hitch in the switch. It seems that
where the telescope was located, the one that focused the light from Arcturus
onto the photo cell was clouded out. But since the telescope was many miles
away from the fair site, the officials just kept quiet about it and flipped
the switch by hand. In other words, they faked it. And to add insult to
injury a few years later astronomers found out that Arcturus wasn't 40 light
years away but only 35 light years instead. At any rate, may Arcturus shine
brightly overhead on this and every 4th of July, because World's Fair or
not it's always fun to see if you Keep Looking Up!
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode of Star Gazer
For graphics for this script (Click) Here
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
1073rd Show
To Be Aired : Monday 6/29/98 through Sunday 7/5/98
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers,
and this week, Friday July 3rd, our Earth will reach its farthest distance
away from the Sun for the entire year when it will be 94 million, 500 thousand
miles away which is 3 million miles farther away than it was on January
4th which has always puzzled a lot of people: I mean why is it hotter in
summer if we are farther away from the Sun than we are in winter? And vice
versa. Well the answer is quite simple. Our Earth is not oriented straight
up and down in space in relationship to the Sun, but is tilted so that when
it is Summer in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun's rays shine on the Northern
Hemisphere more directly than they do in winter and thus provide more heat.
And thank heaven Earth is farther away from the Sun in July than in January
otherwise our summers in the Northern Hemisphere would be even hotter than
they are and our winters would be much much colder.
And now for a 4th of July treat because the most elusive of all naked eye
planets starts making its appearance for one week only just after sunset
starting July 4th. To find tiny three thousand mile wide, closest-planet-to-the-Sun
Mercury, start your viewing on the 4th of July during evening twilight before
it gets completely dark out. First look due west for the constellation Leo
the Lion. Then find its brightest star, Regulus and then down to its right,
west-northwest, hugging the horizon you should be able to see pinkish Mercury
glowing in the twilight. And if you watch it every night for the next week
you will notice that Regulus and Leo will steadily creep closer and closer
to tiny Mercury. And keep in mind that while Mercury is a 3,000 thousand
mile wide planet that Regulus is a 1.5 million mile wide star. Then later
on in the evening on the 4th when you're outside watching the fireworks,
if you look south you'll see the Moon and below it and to its left you should
be able to make out everyone's favorite constellation of summer, Scorpius
the Scorpion which will look like a gigantic fish hook or capital letter
"J" crawling along the southern horizon.
And two nights later, Monday evening, July 6th you will notice the Moon
just above and to the left of the great red heart star of the Scorpion,
the pulsating giant star Antares. So there you have it. A reason to be thankful
that our Earth is 3 million miles farther away from the Sun than it was
in January, the elusive first planet Mercury for 4th of July viewing just
after sunset and everybody's favorite summer constellation Scorpius making
your 4th of July weekend complete. What more do you need except a picnic
basket, fireworks and good friends! So happy 4th of July and whatever you
do remember to Keep Looking Up!
Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode of Star Gazer
For graphics for this script (Click) Here
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet
Roundup from Sky & Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.