Speaker 1: Welcome once again to the Doctor Sky experience as we
Speaker 1: continue to move through time and space here on Talk
Speaker 1: Radio seventy seven w ABC, America's iconic radio station, the
Speaker 1: crown jewel of radio here out of New York City
Speaker 1: and around the world, as we welcome you to the
Speaker 1: midpoint of December twenty twenty two with our Doctor Sky Update,
Speaker 1: the Sky Update number ten. Sit back and relax as
Speaker 1: we talk about what you can see from the visible
Speaker 1: skies of this particular podcast. And we begin, of course
Speaker 1: with an amazing event that will happen. But first I
Speaker 1: hope from the sound of my voice all around the
Speaker 1: nation that you had an opportunity to see that amazing
Speaker 1: occultation of the full cold moon and the beauty of
Speaker 1: the planet Mars, the red god of War, that happened
Speaker 1: back on Wednesday, the seventh of December. In many parts
Speaker 1: of the nation and around the world. This was a
Speaker 1: near occultation. We call it a grays But for the
Speaker 1: rest of you, you saw Mars hugging the limb of
Speaker 1: the Moon, and the Moon itself eclipsed this amazing planet
Speaker 1: that goes into the history books. But if you missed it,
Speaker 1: we'll not have another event like this until sometime around
Speaker 1: twenty forty five. But let's talk about things that we
Speaker 1: can see, and we begin, of course with another amazing
Speaker 1: event that's happening this week.
Speaker 2: What is it?
Speaker 1: The Geminid meteor shower, an amazing meteor shower that peaks
Speaker 1: during the early morning hours of December fourteenth. But just
Speaker 1: don't wait till then you can actually see meteors streaming
Speaker 1: out of the northeast part of the sky, for as
Speaker 1: I mentioned before, one of the best meteor showers of
Speaker 1: the year. The peak of the shower occurs officially during
Speaker 1: the morning hours of December fourteenth. Skywatchers looking from two
Speaker 1: am till sunrise with hopeful clear skies and dark skies
Speaker 1: may get to see upwards of twenty or thirty meteors
Speaker 1: per hour. The Geminids are known for slow move bright meteors,
Speaker 1: sometimes known as firewalls, but the meteor shower ramps up
Speaker 1: like a bell curve.
Speaker 2: And you may get the scene who knows, maybe more.
Speaker 1: The only distraction for this particular media shower, and always
Speaker 1: truth there is that patients is a virtue for any
Speaker 1: meteor shower, but unfortunately the waning gibbous moon might interfere
Speaker 1: greatly with the number scene, but still give it a truck.
Speaker 1: Early evening skywatchers patients of the virtue again looking into
Speaker 1: the northeast sky after sunset, may get to see some
Speaker 1: bright earth grazing meteors. These are meteors that come across
Speaker 1: we call tangentially across the Earth's atmosphere and may put on.
Speaker 2: An interesting sky show.
Speaker 1: But what about the origin of this particular meteor shower
Speaker 1: storm known as the Geminids. Did you know that this
Speaker 1: particular meteor shower or storm actually comes from what we
Speaker 1: call a rock comet. It was a comet that was
Speaker 1: actually discovered or an asteroid back in nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 1: It was the first asteroid ever discovered by a spacecraft.
Speaker 1: And this particular asteroid comet was discovered back in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty three by a particular asteroid, this particular spacecraft, I
Speaker 1: should say, known as Iras. Did you know that the
Speaker 1: parent comet or asteroid of this particular shower gets closest
Speaker 1: to the Sun by a little less than thirteen million miles.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. So what happens when the heat of the
Speaker 1: Sun literally bakes the surface of this asteroid comet. Large
Speaker 1: debris actually comes off the surface of the asteroid comet
Speaker 1: and we get to see maybe chunks of debris may
Speaker 1: bee pebble size or more, thus giving credence to some
Speaker 1: of the larger or brighter meteors seen. This is quite interesting.
Speaker 1: Some of these are slow objects moving only twenty miles
Speaker 1: per second, when other meteor showers the objects meeting the
Speaker 1: meteors are moving well over one hundred miles per second.
Speaker 1: This is quite interesting. So again, take a good look
Speaker 1: for the geminids. They may storm or they may not.
Speaker 1: But again patience as a virtue with any meteor shower,
Speaker 1: dress warmly in those climates, have something, maybe an adult
Speaker 1: beverage to keep you warm.
Speaker 2: And again, if you.
Speaker 1: See some of these, you're seeing, well, something quite unusual.
Speaker 1: And we'll have much more to say about these meteor
Speaker 1: showers in the year twenty twenty three. But let's talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about some of the other impressive
Speaker 1: events in our skies this particular week, and we go
Speaker 1: back to the Greek word for planets called planet tails.
Speaker 1: They were called wandering stars. And we start looking low
Speaker 1: into the southwestern part of the sky just after sunset,
Speaker 1: toward the end of the month, right after Christmas and Honigan,
Speaker 1: we start to see the innermost planet Mercury starting to
Speaker 1: become an object of visibility. Also the beautiful, brilliant planet Venus,
Speaker 1: the goddess of love and beauty, will also appear in
Speaker 1: the sky jot this day down on the twenty fourth
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, the thin crescent Moon, which by the way,
Speaker 1: will be closest to the Earth on the twenty fourth
Speaker 1: also at perigee, that is, the moon, the Moon, Mercury,
Speaker 1: and Venus will form a circle of less than five
Speaker 1: degrees low into the south northwest. What other planets are visible?
Speaker 1: High up into the south just at sunset, we have
Speaker 1: the planet Saturn, easily visible to the naked eye, and
Speaker 1: then moving across the ecliptic the zodiac path, we still
Speaker 1: see the brilliant planet Jupiter at night, easy to see
Speaker 1: with the naked eye, great in binoculars in the telescope,
Speaker 1: But by far, ladies and gentlemen, the dominant planet this
Speaker 1: particular week is still Mars, the red god of war,
Speaker 1: reached opposition, meaning it rose at sunset on the eighth
Speaker 1: of December, and it will be in our skies all night.
Speaker 2: It's quite impressive.
Speaker 1: Telescopic viewers have a great opportunity to see a lot
Speaker 1: of surface detail as the surface of this particular planet
Speaker 1: of the diameter is about seventeen seconds of arc.
Speaker 2: I view it all the time in my eight inch.
Speaker 1: Telescope, which gives me surface detail on the surface of
Speaker 1: Mars by about three hundred times magnification. And as you're
Speaker 1: listening to this, for those of you who have telescopes,
Speaker 1: you know exactly what I mean.
Speaker 2: What do I see?
Speaker 1: I see dark confinance, and I can also see with
Speaker 1: red and blue filters in the eyepace, I can see
Speaker 1: the North Polar Hood, which to many may look like
Speaker 1: the North Polar Cap, but indeed it's just a haze
Speaker 1: around the North Polar Cap. But what the heck it
Speaker 1: looks like a North Polar cap to me. So many
Speaker 1: wonderful things here. But again, you're listening to the Doctor
Speaker 1: Sky experience, and ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to
Speaker 1: go to our blog for more detailed information here at
Speaker 1: WABC radio dot com for great information from the realms
Speaker 1: of astronomy, space, aviation, and weather and so much more.
Speaker 1: And don't forget other great podcasts with great authors here
Speaker 1: as you scan through the many authors that we have
Speaker 1: and not only of the greater realms of astronomy, space, aviation,
Speaker 1: on weather, but also great authors of American exceptionalism, as
Speaker 1: we talk about many that have given their lives for
Speaker 1: American freedom and those who serve in our military, about truth,
Speaker 1: justice in the American way so much more. We thank
Speaker 1: you and your families for being part of the Doctor
Speaker 1: Sky experience. And you can listen to us all the time,
Speaker 1: a couple of times a month with Frank Morano right
Speaker 1: here on What Talk Radio seventy Southern WABC out of
Speaker 1: New York City and around the world on WABC radio
Speaker 1: dot Com and on the WABC Radio app. Privilege an
Speaker 1: honor to be on this radio station. As a native
Speaker 1: New Yorker, it has been my dream to be on
Speaker 1: this radio station for so long, and that dream has
Speaker 1: come through with many thanks to owner and operator John
Speaker 1: Katzimatitis and of course his family for permitting me to
Speaker 1: share the airwaves with you and here in our podcast
Speaker 1: and our blog on this great radio station that's been
Speaker 1: around here.
Speaker 2: For will over a century. What do we say?
Speaker 1: We always remind you to keep your eyes to the skies.
Speaker 1: We wish you health and happiness during the holidays. I'm
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Honik, Gay, health and happiness
Speaker 1: in the New Year. Twenty twenty three, Doctor Sky reminds
Speaker 1: you'd always been to keep your eyes to the skies.
Speaker 2: Is I'm your navigator on the highway to their
Speaker 1: Heavens and you can email me anytime you'd like at
Speaker 1: Doctor Sky Show Drs Kway Show at gmail dot com.