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.
1013th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 5/5/97 through Sunday 5/11/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and once again I'd
like to briefly remind you of two exquisite evenings this week when the
Moon and Comet Hale-Bopp will pair together just after sunset in an almost
perfect setting. Indeed, if you go out this Thursday night, May 8th just
after it starts to get dark out and look west-northwest you will be able
to see an exquisite two-day old crescent Moon only 4 degrees away from a
now much smaller and less bright Comet Hale-Bopp, a pairing that human eyes
have not seen for over 4,200 years. And Friday night the 9th after it gets
dark out you will see that the Moon has gotten slightly fatter and has moved
several degrees up and to Hale-Bopp's left. Thereafter, Saturday night the
10th and Sunday night the 11th the ever growing and brightening crescent
Moon will move even higher in the heavens and farther away from the exquisite
Monster Comet of the 20th century. And this week, for most people, is probably
the week to say "farewell " to Comet Hale-Bopp because it is now
descending closer and closer to the horizon and evening twilight, increasing
moonlight and city light are making it progressively more difficult to see.
Of course as always you can see it much better if you use a pair of binoculars,
especially 7 x 50's, because they will allow you to see much more of the
comet's tail even in its diminished condition. In fact, it might be fun
if you keep track of the very last night you can see Hale-Bopp from your
location with binoculars, which I fully intend to do myself. And you know,
personally it is going to be difficult to say goodbye to this comet because
we've known about it and have been tracking it for almost two years, and
what we have learned is that this comet is absolutely sensational. For even
though it is absolutely exquisite we now know that it is intrinsically the
greatest comet since Comet Sarabat of 1729, and is also intrinsically the
3rd biggest comet in recorded history . . . A true Monster Comet in sheer
size. Indeed, as you look at it this week keep in mind that just a couple
of weeks ago its head was almost twice as big as our Sun, over a million
and a half miles wide and that its tail in early April grew to such an incredible
length that it literally could have stretched all the way from our Sun,
past the 1st planet Mercury, past the 2nd planet Venus, past the 3rd planet
Earth, even past the 4th planet Mars. That's right, Comet Hale-Bopp's tail
grew to a length of over 150 million miles. That's three times longer than
Halley's Comet. In fact, if we had come as close to this comet as we did
to last year's Hyakutake it is safe to say that this would have been one
of the most spectacular comets ever seen by man. So get thee outside after
sunset every night for the next week and a half to say farewell to a comet
earthlings will not see again for 2,400 years. What better reason do you
need to Keep Looking Up!
"Comet Odyssey"
from Cyanogen Productions
* This week's Sky At A Glance and Planet Roundup from Sky
& Telescope.
This week's Sky At A Glance displays current week only.
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and how often have
you heard me say "you'll be able to find one planet away from another
planet so many number of degrees or so"? A lot of times I'm sure. But
how many of you remember, or know or can visualize just how big 1 degree,
5 degrees, 10 degrees, et cetera really is in the night sky? Well, if you
don't remember, or never knew, stay tuned because by the end of this episode
you'll know how to measure your way around the sky using just the fingers
on your hand and the Big Dipper. Let me show you: O.K., the fundamental
thing to remember is that the entire system of measuring sky distances is
based on the circle and we all remember that a circle can be divided up
into 360 degrees. And since we only ever see half the sky at a time, the
distance from one horizon to the opposite horizon, crossing directly overhead
at the Zenith, is 180 degrees which simply means that the distance from
any point on the horizon to directly overhead, the Zenith, is 90 degrees;
which further means that from a clear flat horizon half way up to the Zenith
would be half of 90 degrees, 45 degrees and so on. But the hard part for
most people is measuring a small number of degrees, such as 1, 2, 5, 10,
etc., unless you know a couple of tricks, and one of these tricks for those
of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere is to use the Big Dipper which
during the month of May is about as high as it can get above the North Star
just after it gets dark out. Let me show you: O.K., we're facing due north
any night during the month of May just after it gets dark out and directly
above the North Star you can see the Big Dipper as easy as pie. Four stars
mark its great cup and three stars mark its handle. And if we just think
of the Big Dipper in terms of fives, all we have to remember is that the
distance between the two stars in the end of the cup is five degrees; the
distance between the two stars across the opening of the cup is 10 degrees;
the distance between the cup's end star and the first star in the handle
is 15 degrees; the distance between the same cup star and the second star
in the handle is 20 degrees; and the distance between the same cup star
and the last star in the handle is 25 degrees. So you now have a really
good system for measuring sky distances by comparing the distance between
these stars and other objects in the heavens. Just remember 5, 10, 15, 20,
25. And now for those times of the year when the Big Dipper is low near
the horizon or even not visible, you can simply use your hand outstretched
at arm's length in front of you, because your little finger against the
sky at arm's length measures one degree; three fingers at arm's length measure
five degrees; your fist at arm's length measures ten degrees; and the distance
between your pinky and your index finger stretched out measures 15 degrees.
And in case all else fails remember that a full Moon is exactly 1/2 a degree
wide, which means that your pinky will cover two full Moons side by side.
So out under the night with you with your fingers, your fist and the Big
Dipper and measure your way across heaven as you 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.
1015th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 5/19/97 through Sunday 5/25/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers and I can safely predict
that if it's clear out you're all going to have a very bright Memorial Day
Weekend because the Full Moon of May kicks off the weekend on Thursday,
May 22nd. And although this Full Moon of May, which I personally call the
Mayo Moon is traditionallly called the Milk Moon and the Planting Moon,
I seriously doubt that, except for rural Americans, very many of you will
be spending your holiday weekend milking cows or putting in crops. And since
nights of the Full, or near Full Moon are always bad for star and planet
gazing because of all the excess light scattered throughout the sky, we'll
have to wait until next week when not only will the Moon not hinder planet
viewing, but it will actually help us in locating the two biggest planets
of the solar system in a summer preview because the gas giants Jupiter and
Saturn will assume the planetary center stage all summer long. So let's
take an early peek at them because finding them next week will be easy as
pie using our nearest neighbor in space as a finder. O.K., we've got our
skies set up for just before dawn, Tuesday May 27th, we're facing south/southeast
where you will see an exquisite gibbous Moon and just below it and to its
left, the King of the Planets, Jupiter. And if you have a pair of binoculars
you might want to train them at both the Moon and Jupiter because even with
a pair of binoculars you can see 1 to 4 of Jupiter's four biggest moons
looking like tiny dots of light on either side of it. Then the next morning,
Wednesday May 28th, just before dawn, you will see that the Moon has shrunk
a bit in size and is just up and off to Jupiter's left, only about 4 degrees
away. Then Thursday the 29th the Moon will officially be at Last Quarter.
And on Friday morning the 30th, a slightly less than Last Quarter Moon will
be exactly half way between King Jupiter and the Ringed Giant Saturn. Indeed,
you can keep track of just how far the Moon travels from night to night,
about 26 times its own width each day because on Saturday morning the 31st
at dawn an even skinnier Moon will be just up and to the right of Saturn.
And once again, if you have binoculars take a look at the Moon and study
its exquisite shadows, although if you train your binoculars on Saturn you
will not see its rings because it takes at least a 40 power telescope to
make them out. Then the next day at dawn, Sunday morning June 1st, you'll
see an exquisite pairing of Saturn and a slender sliver crescent Moon which
will be absolutely breathtaking. And if you do have a small telescope now
would be the time to look at both the ring system of Saturn and an exquisite
25 day old Moon. Once again, all days just before dawn in the Southeast
: Tuesday the 27th, Wednesday the 28th, Thursday the 29th, Friday the 30th,
Saturday the 31st and Sunday June 1st. A preview of planetary coming attractions
for the summer of '97 waiting for you if you 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.
1016th Show
To Be Aired : Monday 5/26/97 through Sunday 6/1/97
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings, fellow star gazers, and while last week
we brought you a preview of the planets that will dominate summer skies,
this week we'd like to give you an extended preview of coming planetary
attractions, principally the planet to be hailed by many as 97's Christmas
Star, namely because it will be brilliantly visible just after sunset all
throughout this upcoming December. Plus we'd like to show you the planet
which was all the rage on St. Patrick's Day because of its dominance in
the heavens and which has by now quietly taken a back seat to its planetary
sisters and brothers. First of all the Christmas Star. To view it simply
go outside any clear night just after sunset while it's still twilight during
the month of June and look west/northwest. And if you've got a clear, flat,
unobstructed horizon the most brilliant star-like looking object in the
sky will be the planet Venus which, whenever it becomes bright in December
after sunset is hailed as the Christmas Star. But whenever it makes its
first appearance close to the horizon just after sunset, it is more often
referred to, world-wide, as a UFO. And indeed because it rides so low after
sunset all during the month of June, its light will be violently disturbed
by the turbulent layers of Earth's atmosphere close to the horizon and thus
Venus will frequently appear to jump up and down and sideways and change
every color of the rainbow. I mean Venus is really the classic freak-you-out
UFO. In fact, there is one incident when a naval captain actually ordered
his crew to shoot it down. Another true story tells of a time an engineer
brought his train to a screeching halt because he was sure he was choo-chooing
along directly into the path of an oncoming train. Enough said? So, enjoy
June's UFO right after sunset while it's still twilight out and remember
that it will drastically change appearance by December when it will become
a brilliant and serene beacon of the holiday season. And if you want to
see something really pretty next week, on Friday evening June 6th, just
after sunset, you will see a slender sliver of a crescent Moon just off
to the left of Venus and then Saturday night the 7th, after sunset, a slightly
fatter crescent above to Venus' left. But what about the planet which was
all the rage because of its brilliance on St. Patrick's Day?...The red planet
Mars? Well, since that time it has traveled 35 million miles farther away
from us and is 4 times dimmer than on St. Paddy's Day but you can still
see it just off the triangle that marks the hind quarters of Leo the Lion,
high up in the western sky after it gets dark out. And as it steadily fades
it will speed from Leo through Virgo, Libra and Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius
and Capricorn and will snuggle up side by side with Venus on both October
26th and December 22nd. And we'll keep you clued in as each pairing approaches.
So get thee outside for a UFO, A Christmas Star and a fading planet which
is easy to see if you 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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