WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.320 It's night with Dan Ray. I'm telling you easy Boston. 2 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:10.839 Thank you Dan Watkins for announcing that the third hour 3 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:15.320 is upon us. This is Nightside. Dan Ray is off. 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.399 I am here and speaking of Dan, I mentioned Rob 5 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:26.079 has assistance tonight. It's not an intern Dan and Rob. 6 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:33.200 What is Dan's last Dan Cantano is is here with Rob. 7 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.240 So if the phone is answered and it's not a 8 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:41.000 voice with which you're familiar, it might be Dan Kintano. 9 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:46.479 And I mistakenly called him an intern. He's a full 10 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:52.119 fledged employee, paycheck and everything. He's just learning how to 11 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:59.679 handle Nightside from that side of the glass. I am 12 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.679 now switching to a little discussion, an introduction for my 13 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.760 next guest. About a couple of years ago, he called 14 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.959 my show, my Saturday Show, The Morgan Show, and he 15 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:20.599 told me about an upcoming celestial event, something in the skies, 16 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:26.400 an eclipse. And he made it clear to me that 17 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.359 he knew about the eclipse and all the details surrounding 18 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:37.239 the eclipse. So when the eclipse became imminent, I scheduled 19 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:41.079 him and had him on. Did an excellent job, and 20 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:45.079 I've used him one or two other times. And you 21 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:48.680 must admit up in the sky over the past i'll 22 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.920 say six to eight weeks, there's been a bunch of 23 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.799 goings on. So I brought Dave McDonald here to talk 24 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.879 about some of the things that have happened, and more importantly, 25 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:06.599 a couple of things scheduled to happen. So Dave, welcome 26 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:09.159 to Night's Side. 27 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:13.719 Well, thanks, Morgan, it's a pleasure to be here as always. 28 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.199 And did you tell your friends and family you're going 29 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:18.400 to be in the radio tonight. 30 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:24.840 Absolutely, And I have some friends getting the word out 31 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.000 among their friends and hopefully, you know how networking goes, 32 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.199 Hopefully it'll just keep spreading, all right. 33 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:36.960 Explain why? And I never ever remember this happening at 34 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:40.680 any point in my life. I'm in my seventies, I'm 35 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:44.199 seventy one years old, and I can never remember. And 36 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:50.280 I have a pretty good memory of northern lights being 37 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:57.759 so clearly seen in the Boston area as happened a 38 00:02:57.800 --> 00:02:59.479 week and a half ago. 39 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:06.800 Tell us why, Yeah, So the northern lights happen as 40 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:11.360 a result of activity on the sun. There are water 41 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:17.360 called CMEs, which stands for coronal mass ejections, and the 42 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:22.240 sun is a very active place, and there are what 43 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:26.680 we call solar minima and solar maximums, and we're kind 44 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:30.680 of in a season of solar maximums right now, which 45 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.919 means there's more sun spots than usual. And the cycle 46 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.879 of sunspots is an eleven year cycle, so we're kind 47 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:44.080 of again in the realm of the high spot, and 48 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:47.599 then it will dwindle down and re emerge again in 49 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.159 another eleven years. But right now, being in the high 50 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:57.599 spot of solar activity, there's more sun spots, which are 51 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:01.400 magnetic connections. Is like a north pole in the south pole. 52 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:05.520 Sun spots generally come in pairs, and every once in 53 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:10.680 a while. The magnetic force on the sun is so powerful, 54 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.759 Like you're familiar where everybody's played with magnets when they 55 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:18.240 were in elementary school, and sometimes I still play with magnets. 56 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:20.759 It's just a lot of fun to see how they 57 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.600 repel each other. And there's a lot of force we're 58 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.079 familiar with, like doors these days, you know, instead of 59 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.000 just you know, locks with keys and such, we got 60 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:40.600 magnetic locks. Magnetism is very, very powerful, and so now 61 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:45.399 that there's a greater chance of these coronal mass ejections, 62 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:51.319 which is when these sunspots erupt and spew a lot 63 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:56.360 of material out of the Sun out into space. When 64 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:02.519 one of these is facing Earth, and this material comes 65 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:06.639 out towards Earth, traveling at millions of miles an hour, 66 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:12.439 and a great volume of this material in a day 67 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:16.879 two or three, depending exactly how fast the material is traveling. 68 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:22.680 About three days or so after the CME erupt it 69 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:28.720 reaches our magnetosphere, which is the protective zone around Earth 70 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:34.839 that keeps us safe from radiation and from solar particles 71 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.000 causing too much damage. But when one of these powerful 72 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:47.839 cmees is directed towards Earth, it interacts in a very 73 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:52.720 deep way with the magnetosphere and depending upon the angle 74 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.399 that it hits at and how strong it is, will 75 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.560 determine how far south the aurora might be seen. And 76 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.360 as you mentioned, yes we saw well, I should say you. 77 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:09.040 I was not in Boston myself, but yeah, it got 78 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:14.920 down to Boston and even in lower latitudes, which is unusual. 79 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.439 But one of the reasons, again is a the power 80 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.360 of the coronal mass ejection and the angle be that 81 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.680 it hits Earth at is in terms of how low 82 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:31.879 the latitude will be that will experience the Northern lights. 83 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:38.160 And needless to say, you and others it has been 84 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:42.160 an amazing show. So many people have taken pictures post 85 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:47.959 of them online. And the amazing variety of colors from 86 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:52.639 vibrant red and orange and pink and purple and some 87 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.959 underlying blues and greens, and the curtain like effect. I mean, 88 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.160 needless to say, it's a it's a beautiful sight that 89 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:04.319 we get to enjoy every once in a while. 90 00:07:04.839 --> 00:07:10.000 What I remember from sixth grade science, red is the 91 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:20.680 most dominant color in the spectrum. And I've heard of 92 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:29.600 the northern lights not having any red splotches or red coloring, 93 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:36.199 and I've also heard of red being very dominant. And 94 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:41.920 what colors we see, what makes that happen or not 95 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:45.759 happen the dominance of red. 96 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:53.120 Yeah, So, as you mentioned, the electromagnetic spectrum that we 97 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:58.759 see from wavelengths of four hundred nanometers. A nanometer is 98 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:03.639 a billion of a meter, so very very small. From 99 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.560 four hundred to seven hundred nanometers is the range which 100 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:14.759 we see. And depending upon again the interaction of the 101 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:19.199 solar wind with the magnetosphere that is around our Earth, 102 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:25.600 it creates vibrations at different frequencies, and depending upon what 103 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:31.360 frequency is vibrating, it gives off that color according to 104 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.559 that frequency, and the higher the frequency, we tend to 105 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:41.159 be towards the blue, and the lower numbers tend to 106 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.279 be towards the red. So it's a matter of how 107 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.919 the vibrations are happening when the interaction between the solar 108 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:56.759 wind and Earth's magnetosphere happens. So sometimes we get the red, 109 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:59.799 sometimes we get the blue. And I think this pastime 110 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:01.720 we really had a nice mixture. 111 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.120 I've got a break to take, but when we come back, 112 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:08.720 I want to talk about that comment that's out there, 113 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:16.519 and I am told it comes back every twenty thousand years. 114 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:19.679 I don't know how they figure that out, and that 115 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:25.919 it's trail. It's trailing a lot of stuff behind it. 116 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:29.360 So I want to talk about that and what we 117 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:33.600 should be on the lookout for. That's in our our 118 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:36.320 future up in the sky. So let me give the 119 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:39.200 phone numbers. Anybody wants to call in you got a 120 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.360 question about the things you see up there, here's the 121 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.559 man to talk to. Six one, seven, two, five, four 122 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:49.240 ten thirty or eight eight, eight, nine to nine, ten thirty. 123 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.759 My guest Dave McDonald is here, and he's here for 124 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.879 your questions on night side time and temperature ten sixteen 125 00:09:57.639 --> 00:09:59.600 fifty nine degrees. 126 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.480 Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World 127 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.759 night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio. 128 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:11.960 Dave McDonald is my guest. We are talking about the sky, 129 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:20.759 space and things that actually demand our attention to look up, observe, 130 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:25.399 and be put in a state of awe when you 131 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.879 think about what we're looking at. And Dave, I have 132 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:33.440 a question. There were two movies came out, oh a 133 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:37.000 good twenty years ago, and they came out within a 134 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:42.840 year of each other, Armageddon with Bruce Willis and Deep 135 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:50.399 Impact with Teleone and Morgan Freeman as our president. And 136 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:56.039 in both movies, there was a comet that was going 137 00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:01.960 to strike Earth and it was science and NASA and 138 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:10.279 politics that did the best to interrupt the trajectory of 139 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.960 these comets hitting our planet. And when I hear that 140 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:23.039 there's a comet that's in the neighborhood of Earth, I'm 141 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:27.799 wondering if one of these things ever did zero in 142 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:32.799 on Earth, would we be able to throw something up 143 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:33.679 there to stop it. 144 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.440 Well, that's a great question, and that is something that 145 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:47.480 astrophysicists and people involved in various space agencies around the world, 146 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.480 because I mean, we obviously have NASA, There is the 147 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:55.240 European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and there are 148 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:01.799 space agencies around the world. And obviously military governments and 149 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:05.480 their militaries are interested in this sort of thing because 150 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:09.679 we don't want to be hit. We know that sixty 151 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:16.120 five million years ago or so, a large meteor hit 152 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:19.320 Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs and a bunch of 153 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:25.159 other life, So things can hit us now. As far 154 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:29.440 as being able to do something about it, that's a 155 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:36.600 tough one. We have tried to move an asteroid a 156 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.960 little bit, and depending upon how big the object is, 157 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.039 how soon we detect it that it might be on 158 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.919 a collision course, and how fast we can get something 159 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:54.360 there with enough power, and maybe it even needs to 160 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:58.840 be a nuclear blast of some sort to move an object. 161 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.759 These things are tough to move because one they're large, 162 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:10.919 and secondly they're moving very fast. So is it possible 163 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.840 to the tweet a little bit, yes, But are we 164 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:19.279 in a position to handle anything of any major significance. 165 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:19.960 Probably not. 166 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:27.159 Have we tried in reality, not science fiction, not a movie, 167 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:32.759 But have we really tried to do just this very thing. 168 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:39.320 In a very small scale, Yes, And I don't remember 169 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:43.440 the name of the mission or the asteroid that it visited. 170 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:49.360 But yes, it has been tried, and there has been 171 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:54.480 a little bit of change of direction of the asteroid, 172 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.799 which is not a big one. So I guess we 173 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:03.440 could say that that text technology does exist and we're 174 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:07.120 working on it. But as I said, we're not ready 175 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.919 to handle the big boys yet. But as the technology 176 00:14:09.960 --> 00:14:14.559 does exist, the ideas, the concepts, the blueprints, if you will, 177 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:17.799 exist for doing what you're talking about. 178 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:26.559 Earlier this week, I saw a news story that the 179 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:34.000 asteroid that made the dinosaurs wave goodbye was only the 180 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:39.360 second in size of an asteroid that hit Earth. There 181 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.440 was a bigger one, but it didn't do as much damage, 182 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:48.879 which they lost me on that. Did you hear the 183 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:50.200 story of which I'm. 184 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:54.679 Speaking, No, Morgan, I haven't heard that story. 185 00:14:54.840 --> 00:15:02.120 All right, Well, there was allegedly three times bigger than 186 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:06.720 the one that made all the dinosaurs go away. Yet 187 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:13.159 and still, if it was that big and one second 188 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.759 in size to it made the dinosaurs go away, how 189 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.360 did we survive that? But if you didn't hear about it, 190 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:22.200 never mind what. 191 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.559 I didn't hear about it, But a quick off the 192 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:29.559 tough answer would be it would also depend upon the 193 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:33.600 angle you know that it hit Earth would have something 194 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:35.720 to do with it. Whether it was a you know, 195 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.759 kind of a perpendicular impact straight on or where it 196 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.840 hit how it hit more of it at an angle? Correct? Yeah? 197 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.559 Yeah, all right? Let me ask about what's upcoming in 198 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:55.919 the skies. I know eclipses come around every two to 199 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:59.960 ten to twenty years. When's the next eclipse or something 200 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.159 of note that we should see in the sky. 201 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:07.679 Well, why don't we hang out with the comment theme 202 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:13.080 for a moment, Because if you were to go outside tonight, 203 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:18.000 and I believe it's clear, you could go out and 204 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.759 take some time to enjoy the night sky and you 205 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:29.600 might see a meteor flashby. And meteors are sometimes referred 206 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:35.879 to as shooting stars, but to spoiler alert, stars don't shoot. 207 00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:40.440 Stars explode. And that's something else that we can talk 208 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:44.519 about maybe in whatever the timeframe works, five or ten minutes. 209 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:47.799 That's an important thing to look out for, I think. 210 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:50.240 But if you were to go outside tonight or the 211 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:55.080 next couple nights and see some meteors shoot through the sky, 212 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:01.440 you might be looking at Haley's comic. Now, Haley's Comet, 213 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:06.319 the basic Big nucleus of the comet isn't due to 214 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.160 be back until I think sixty one or twenty sixty two, 215 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:18.440 but it's last time going by us in the nineteen eighties. 216 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:23.359 It left a debris trail or a dust trail of 217 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.400 material that got blown off of the comet, and that 218 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:32.359 debris trail stays in orbit around the Sun, because that's 219 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:36.279 what comets do. Cormets orbit the Sun. There are long 220 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.359 period cormt comets, which the current comet A three, we 221 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:43.720 can talk about that if you want to, is a 222 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:48.599 long period comet. Haley's commet is a relatively short period comet. 223 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:52.759 But what's happening right now is Earth is going through 224 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:57.920 plowing through the debris field left by Haley's comet. So 225 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.000 if you were to see a meteor or two or 226 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.960 three any given evening in the next few nights, chances 227 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:11.039 are high that it was particles from Haley's commet. And 228 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.279 that's called the Orionid media shower. 229 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:23.319 Now, if I'm not mistaken, Oh, the timeframe between Haley's 230 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.240 comment coming close enough to Earth to see with the 231 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.839 naked eye is seventy five years. Is that accurate? 232 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.240 So that sounds about right, Yes, okay. 233 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:38.160 All right, well I'm gonna loss for words. 234 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:43.359 The well, but to stay with the commet theme for 235 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:48.200 a moment. The next major shower coming up is the 236 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:51.880 Leonid Media Shower, which will be in November. 237 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.720 In November, didn't we have that come through about a 238 00:18:56.759 --> 00:18:57.519 month or two ago. 239 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:04.160 No, No, we might be thinking about the Percied Media Shower, 240 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.559 which was in August. That's a big one. 241 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.240 That's what I was thinking about. 242 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:13.000 Okay, yeah, and the Leondis is in November, but a 243 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:19.720 couple of offshoots for that is. The high point or 244 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.799 the maximum or the peak of the Leanded Media Shower 245 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:28.839 is November seventeenth. But the bad news is we are 246 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:33.839 going to experience a super moon on November fifteenth, which 247 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.839 obviously indicates it's a full moon. So it's going to 248 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:42.839 be tough seeing meteors, you know, the fourteenth, fifteen, sixteen, seventeenth, 249 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.559 because it's going to be so bright because of the moon, 250 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.720 medias are going to be hard to come by. But 251 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.200 if you start looking a week or so earlier, like 252 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:57.960 perhaps November tenth, and your patient, the moon is going 253 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.079 to be setting around midnight, so it's out of the way. 254 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:05.640 After midnight is typically the best time to look for meteors, 255 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:10.839 so November tenth, eleventh, the moon sets around midnight and 256 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:13.720 you can go out and perhaps you'll see some limids 257 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.839 which are left by the Comet temple puddle which last 258 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:20.799 came by in nineteen ninety eight. 259 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.279 I'm going to start your here to take a quick 260 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:26.200 hit of news again. People, if you want to call 261 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.799 in and talk what's up in the sky. Six one seven, two, five, 262 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.440 four ten thirty eight eight nine to nine, ten thirty, 263 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.960 give my guest the call. I'd love to hear from you. 264 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:45.160 Dave McDonald is my astrology, not astrology. There's a difference 265 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:52.119 from astronomy and astrology, and he's the person that I 266 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.759 always think of when it comes to this subject. So 267 00:20:56.200 --> 00:20:57.920 I'm going to take my break if you want to 268 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:01.279 call During the break, Robyn, Dan are waiting for the 269 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:05.079 phone to ring. I'm six one seven, two, five, four, 270 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.759 ten thirty eight eight eight nine two nineteen thirty. Time 271 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:13.480 and temperature here at BZ on nightside ten thirty one 272 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:15.400 fifty nine degrees. 273 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:21.920 It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio. 274 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.720 Before we get back to our subject, and we have 275 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.359 a phone call too, I want to let you know. 276 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:33.720 For those you hear me fill in for Dan Ray periodically, 277 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.839 but you might not be aware that I have my 278 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:42.640 own show Saturday evenings ten to midnight, and author Tom 279 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:46.519 Claven has a new book, so we'll be discussing that 280 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.440 as well. Anthony san Marco will be on, a historian 281 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:57.240 who knows all the ins and outs of Boston's communities. 282 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:05.279 Boston split up into fifteen, sixteen seventeen separate sections, and 283 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:08.519 he's written he Anthony san Marco has written a book 284 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:13.160 about each community, so that's coming up. He's written almost 285 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:17.920 ninety books. In case you care about that sort of thing. 286 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:21.480 And if you want to come interact with me live 287 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:25.839 every Tuesday, im at the Midway Restaurant in Denham to 288 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:31.799 sixty nine Washington Street, give Way Prizes and you'll see 289 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:33.640 a lot of people there, maybe some of the people 290 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:36.839 here in the radio, like Mel Simon's who's on with 291 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.480 me every other month. So I've told you those things, 292 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:47.680 and now my guest David McDonald, I'm going to ask 293 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.319 one question and then I'm going to take a phone 294 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:55.680 call Dave Sure, why did the scientific community pick on 295 00:22:55.799 --> 00:23:00.960 poor old Pluto and take the status of a planet 296 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:01.880 away from it. 297 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:08.480 Well, now we can do a whole show sometime on 298 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:15.160 this topic. Okay. So first of all, yeah, so, first 299 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:20.519 of all, understand this that Pluto is a planet. It 300 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:25.839 is the largest member of a new class of planet 301 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:29.680 called dwarf planet. So one of the things that got 302 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:35.319 Pluto in trouble was its orbit is inclined a little 303 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:38.319 more than the other planets to what we call the 304 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:42.000 ecliptic or the pathway of the Sun around Earth, which 305 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.799 technically is the pathway of Earth around the Sun. And 306 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:52.440 then a guy named Mike Brown found this object out 307 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:57.440 there called it became called Eris, and this is an 308 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:01.599 object that was almost twice as far away as Pluto, 309 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:08.079 and he thought believed it was bigger than Pluto. So 310 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:12.759 then the question became, hmm, is this a planet? And 311 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:17.039 so that begged the definition of a planet needed to 312 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:22.960 be established. So a real long story, kind of kind 313 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.599 of short. That was August twenty fourth, two thousand and six. 314 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:31.599 I saw live on the Internet the meeting of the 315 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:36.519 International Astronomical Union where they took up this question. So 316 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:42.640 I know personally Alan Stern. Alan Stern is the principal 317 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:49.480 investigator of the new Horizons mission which visited Pluto on 318 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:55.079 July fourteenth, twenty fifteen. And the data we got from 319 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.240 the New Horizons mission, which flew by Pluto within seven 320 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:06.160 thousand min aisles of its surface, detected a possible underwater ocean, 321 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:17.200 detected mountains, visually imaged mountains, glaciers on these mountains, an atmosphere, 322 00:25:18.279 --> 00:25:25.039 and though many features, it's round and it looks like 323 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:28.160 it has all the ingredients that the planet would have. 324 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:33.880 And so Pluto is in a new class of planet 325 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:39.400 called dwarf planet. We have Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. 326 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.200 They're in a class called terrestrial planets and their planets. 327 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:49.839 We have Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are gas 328 00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:55.119 giants or Jovian planets. They're planets. And now we have 329 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:57.599 a new class of planet of which Pluto is the 330 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:03.319 largest member. But it's a planet. And I had a 331 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:08.880 direct quote from Alan Stern, who probably is the most 332 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:13.279 knowledgeable person in the world literally about Bluto, and I 333 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:17.240 have him on video saying, you can take this to 334 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:20.559 the bank. Bluto was a planet, it is a planet, 335 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:22.839 and it will always be a planet. 336 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:29.119 Okay, I will drop that subject because that's a definitive statement. 337 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.359 Let's go to John in Boston and see what he 338 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.400 has to say here on night side John good evening, Hi. 339 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:42.039 Hi Morgan, and Hi Dave. I think it is. 340 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:43.680 Yeah. 341 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:44.319 I love. 342 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.000 Can Okay, I love looking at the nice sky and 343 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:54.160 the day sky too. Not just a nice guy. I 344 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.960 think I see Jupiter out there tonight. I'm not sure. 345 00:26:58.079 --> 00:26:58.559 Yes you do. 346 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:03.319 It's really bright like Venus almost, you know, but I 347 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.599 kind of get I'm an amateur, but I've looked at 348 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:11.680 the website sometimes night Sky or something like that Night 349 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:15.640 Sky Boston, or I'll google night Sky Boston, and they 350 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.400 get pretty good examples of what's rising setting and what's 351 00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:23.559 visible right now by the naked eye or by a binocular. 352 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.640 I don't have a telescope or anything like that. But 353 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:30.640 I'm disappointed I live in the city because I know 354 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:34.160 it really interferes, and I've never seen the northern life. 355 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.359 I'd like to see some data or sometime or even 356 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:41.799 that recent comment that came by that was neither rising 357 00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:43.680 in the west there. I never got a chance to 358 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:45.559 see that because of the city stuff. 359 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:45.480 You know. 360 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:51.839 But anyway, if you're going to recommend a book, is 361 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.960 there any book I mean, the universe is fascinating the 362 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:58.200 infinity of it. I feel like it's almost spiritual for 363 00:27:58.279 --> 00:28:03.240 me and them. You know, it's just so massive and 364 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.559 can't be understood, almost to me. And I don't know 365 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.480 if there's any basic book that you'd recommend, just as 366 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:12.799 a general basic book. 367 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:17.400 Thank you tell I'll tell you. I do have an 368 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:20.359 author in mind with two books that meant a lot 369 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:26.359 to me. And interestingly enough, I mentioned the New Horizons Mission. 370 00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:30.880 And you may or may not know that Brian May 371 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:34.400 the lead guitarist of Queen, one of the founders of 372 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.839 the rock group Queen. He's an astrophysicist. Uh he as 373 00:28:38.920 --> 00:28:42.640 his doctorate. He's Doctor Brian May. He also has been knighted. 374 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:47.519 He's Sir Doctor Brian May. And I had the opportunity 375 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:50.359 to meet him and to chat with him at the 376 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:56.880 flyby of New Horizons going by ultimately, and we found 377 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.319 out in our conversation that we both got our love 378 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:05.640 for astronomy from the same person, Sir Patrick Moore. And 379 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:09.559 Sir Patrick Moore wrote several books, but two that I 380 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:14.359 would recommend. One is called Naked Eye Astronomy and the 381 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:20.119 other one is simply called Astronomy. And these two books 382 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.960 meant a lot to me. They got me going and 383 00:29:23.480 --> 00:29:26.240 with a you know jam packed of you know, with 384 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:29.640 information about things that you can see, how to see things. 385 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:34.720 And then I would add to it a magazine either 386 00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:41.839 Astronomy Magazine or Sky and Telescope Magazine so that you 387 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:44.759 can keep up on you know, what's current, what's going 388 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.759 on in the night skylight tonight this week, this month, 389 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.880 and I happen to have, speaking of this month, I 390 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:56.799 happen to have a TV show on YouTube and it's 391 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:01.119 on some local cable TVs. It's called the Sky this 392 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:05.519 Month with Dave McDonald and I talk about you know, 393 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:08.559 what's going on for the month in the night in 394 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.839 the night sky. But Naked Eye Astronomy Astronomy by Sir 395 00:30:12.920 --> 00:30:16.839 Patrick Moore would be two books that I would recommend. 396 00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:22.279 And then either Astronomy or Sky in Telescope magazine to 397 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:24.960 see what the latest and the greatest is that's happening 398 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:25.559 right now. 399 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:31.359 John, Okay, thank you, and also just quickly, I get 400 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:34.160 a lot out of the old Farmer's Aminac. Thank you. 401 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:38.240