Speaker 1: Welcome once again to the Doctor Sky Experience. Are your host,
Speaker 1: Steve Kates Doctor Sky Journey with me to the stars
Speaker 1: and beyond here on Talk Radio seventy seven WABC. We
Speaker 1: like to call it, and so do many others, the
Speaker 1: crown jewel of radio, the iconic seventy seven Talk Radio WABC,
Speaker 1: beaming out of New York City, the nation, the world,
Speaker 1: and i'm sure the cosmos. Heard in one hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy three countries in all fifty states. We proudly bring
Speaker 1: you the August twenty twenty four update of what you
Speaker 1: can see in the skies from calendar month number eight,
Speaker 1: August twenty twenty four and all throughout this Doctor Sky Experience,
Speaker 1: feel free to email me with your questions and comments.
Speaker 1: That email is simply dr Sky Doctor Sky Show at
Speaker 1: gmail dot com. So simply Drsky Show at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: And ladies and gentlemen, as we open up month number eight,
Speaker 1: some interest things are happening, so let's begin and talk
Speaker 1: about the more Earth's nearest neighbor. The moon was new
Speaker 1: or invisible on the fourth, becoming a waxing crescent. Moving
Speaker 1: then on to its first quarter phase. We find out
Speaker 1: on the twelfth, and we'll have more to say about
Speaker 1: that important dayton just a moment. Then the moon continues
Speaker 1: to go give us and then it moves on to
Speaker 1: the next full moon, a beautiful super full moon that
Speaker 1: will have on the nineteenth. And remember there'll be four
Speaker 1: supermoons as we move into the deeper part of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty fourth, one in August September, which is also known
Speaker 1: as the full super Harvest moon, and will also have
Speaker 1: one in October and November, but more about that later.
Speaker 1: Then after that the full moon of the nineteenth, we
Speaker 1: find the moon wanes, moves on to last quarter by
Speaker 1: the twenty sixth, and simply continues to move around the
Speaker 1: Earth as we watch every month for planets. Interestingly enough,
Speaker 1: in the evening sky low into the northwest, the goddess
Speaker 1: of love and beauty herself, the planet Venus, adorns our
Speaker 1: western skies just after sunset, will continue to get brighter
Speaker 1: and move higher into the sky. It was also very
Speaker 1: close to the moon on the sixth, and you can
Speaker 1: just bet that Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty,
Speaker 1: will get brighter and higher in your sky. So if
Speaker 1: you don't see it this early portion and part of August,
Speaker 1: you will, I assure you soon the real planetary show
Speaker 1: exists in the early morning sky. We look for the
Speaker 1: mighty planet Jewpiter, the gods of Gods as we call
Speaker 1: it Zeus, and also the planet Mars and Saturn adorn
Speaker 1: the early morning sky. You'll find the moon very close
Speaker 1: to Jewputer on the morning of the twenty seventh. On
Speaker 1: the morning of the twenty eighth, the moon is near
Speaker 1: the red god of War, the planet Mars, and more
Speaker 1: interesting things to come. But folks, what I like to
Speaker 1: talk about right now is something I find really fascinating,
Speaker 1: and that is is we move deeper into this particular month,
Speaker 1: let's talk about one of the greatest sky events that
Speaker 1: we can probably see at least for meteor showers of
Speaker 1: the entire year twenty twenty four. And I speak briefly
Speaker 1: but hopefully with great information about the end annual Percied
Speaker 1: meteor shower. Now, many people who are on vacation or
Speaker 1: traveling to dark locations will have an opportune and great time,
Speaker 1: that is, in seeing this meteor shower. Why well for
Speaker 1: everybody else listening, even in city areas. The moon of
Speaker 1: course will set right around midnight, so this year is
Speaker 1: very favorable for the Perseods. But let's talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about the history of this particular shower. The Perseads
Speaker 1: been observed for a heck of a long time. We
Speaker 1: find a little historical side of this that early around
Speaker 1: eight hundred a d. This particular meteor shower was seen
Speaker 1: and as recorded in the annals of the Chinese, the Koreans,
Speaker 1: Native Americans and many people watched and looked to the
Speaker 1: sky to see this amazing outburst of debris. And what
Speaker 1: is the debris from this particular meteor shower caused by
Speaker 1: you got it right, a comet. And the parent comet
Speaker 1: of this particular meteor shower the perseods is so interesting.
Speaker 1: It's a comet known as Comet Swift Tuttel. This commet
Speaker 1: was discovered in the air eighteen sixty two by two
Speaker 1: independent astronomers, Swift and Tuttle, of course, and the commet
Speaker 1: moves around the Sun in an orbit of about one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty three years. But here we save the
Speaker 1: best for now. The meteor shower is probably best seen
Speaker 1: from midnight till sunrise. Not many people in the legacy
Speaker 1: media kind of get this wrong. But we here in
Speaker 1: the doctor sky experience take a different path. So here
Speaker 1: it is. If you're interested in seeing this meteor shower,
Speaker 1: try to find the darkest location you can, set your
Speaker 1: clock and look into the northeast sky right around midnight
Speaker 1: till dawn. That's light. That's right. That's a long time
Speaker 1: to observe, but hopefully well worth it. The constellation of
Speaker 1: Perseus the Hero rises in the northeast part of the sky.
Speaker 1: So if there is any good meteor activity, start looking
Speaker 1: on the evening of August tenth, into the morning of
Speaker 1: the eleventh, the night of the eleventh, and it should
Speaker 1: peak during the early morning hours of the twelfth of August. Now,
Speaker 1: many experts in the field say that the best rates
Speaker 1: for this meteor shower the Perseods will occur around nine
Speaker 1: am Eastern daylight time. Well, of course, the sun would
Speaker 1: be in the sky. So simply to recap if I
Speaker 1: were watching this, and believe me, I've watched the shower
Speaker 1: for well over forty five years some years, it's intense,
Speaker 1: But with astronomy and with meteor showers, patience is a
Speaker 1: virtue because as the great comet observer and discoverer David
Speaker 1: Levy talked about comets the parent source of these meteors.
Speaker 1: He said, Comets are like cats. They both do what
Speaker 1: they want, and they both have tails. And out of
Speaker 1: those tales of comets come the debris, which we call
Speaker 1: the perseed meteor shower. Now here's a little tip for
Speaker 1: those of you with smartphones, cameras, binoculars, and what have you.
Speaker 1: As you lie out there and face the direction of
Speaker 1: the northeast, that's not the only area that I would
Speaker 1: recommend looking for meteors. Why because if you think they're
Speaker 1: all just going to come out of the radiant, out
Speaker 1: of that pinpoint in the sky, remember around midnight, the
Speaker 1: radiance low in the northeast. If you have a few friends,
Speaker 1: and probably you do, just station everybody if they're out
Speaker 1: in a lawn chair, in a different direction, so they
Speaker 1: get to see the best of the best. Because sometimes
Speaker 1: these meteors will occur behind you, even though you're looking
Speaker 1: to the northeast sky. Why do this, Well, it's a
Speaker 1: heck of a lot of fun. I remember in other
Speaker 1: historical observations of the perseods, we were watching and actually
Speaker 1: recording well over one hundred and fifty to two hundred
Speaker 1: meteors an hour. But with meteor showers. Truth is always
Speaker 1: the best way to go, and what is the truth?
Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll wait for an hour and see nothing, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden you'll see an outpouring as
Speaker 1: the Earth moves through some of the debris of the comet,
Speaker 1: these big ribbons of material that came out of the
Speaker 1: commet a long time ago. So to make it simple
Speaker 1: and hopefully fun, find a dark location. A pair of
Speaker 1: binoculars will help you if you see a really bright one.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to see there your smartphone, I would
Speaker 1: recommend if you want to do a rapid sh shut
Speaker 1: or exposure. If you see one, hopefully you'll catch one.
Speaker 1: For the more advanced FAY people with cameras out there,
Speaker 1: you know how to do that with a time exposure
Speaker 1: in a dark sky and hopefully you'll catch some perseods.
Speaker 1: But meteor showers are quite interesting. But here's something interesting
Speaker 1: that most people really don't know about. The parent comet
Speaker 1: swift tunnel is an object that over time comes closest
Speaker 1: to the Earth than any other celestial object. I'll repeat
Speaker 1: that the parent comet swift tunnel of the perseods over
Speaker 1: historical time, over all time comes closest to the Earth
Speaker 1: than any other object moving around in this solar system. Now,
Speaker 1: some people may say, wait a minute, Doctor Sky, what
Speaker 1: about the Apopus media or asteroid, more so an asteroid
Speaker 1: that's coming in twenty twenty nine. Well, a comet has
Speaker 1: such great speed. Now, remember the Apopus asteroid is only
Speaker 1: about one thousand feet across. The nucleus of the source
Speaker 1: of these perseods is about sixteen to eighteen miles in diameter,
Speaker 1: So nothing to worry about. But in the future, this
Speaker 1: particular comet will make a very close passage to the Earth,
Speaker 1: and that will happen around the year twenty sixty two
Speaker 1: or twenty twenty six, if I'm more accurate, I'll have
Speaker 1: to check that. So once again, it's a privisent honor
Speaker 1: to be here on talk radio seventy seven WABC with
Speaker 1: the Doctor Sky. Experience great information as you tell us
Speaker 1: from the rules of astronomy, space aviation, in weather, and yes,
Speaker 1: interviews about American exceptionalism and great musicians. Why because over
Speaker 1: my lifetime I've spent a lot of time not only
Speaker 1: as a US veteran of the military, but also spent
Speaker 1: a lot of time, of course, in searching about America's history.
Speaker 1: As we talk about truth, justice and the American way,
Speaker 1: as they regularly do here on this great radio station. Again,
Speaker 1: my email is Dr Sky Show, Doctro Skyshow at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. And again thanks to John Katzimitids and his
Speaker 1: family for having me here on board this radio station.
Speaker 1: You can hear me every Sunday during the eight am
Speaker 1: to ten am segments that are all over there great
Speaker 1: guests from around the world, people in the know on
Speaker 1: the Cats Around Table. And then every other Wednesday, provision
Speaker 1: honor to be with great broadcaster Frank Morano on this
Speaker 1: radio station every other Wednesday at one am right now
Speaker 1: eastern daylight time, where you can call in and have
Speaker 1: your questions answered. So I'm wishing you, of course, we're
Speaker 1: wishing you the best for clear skies and grave things
Speaker 1: to happen in the nighttime sky in this great month
Speaker 1: of August. How many people say, well, Doctor Sky, the
Speaker 1: temperatures are so hot. Really, I don't really want to
Speaker 1: go outside. But yes, this particular episode is even geared
Speaker 1: to city dwellers because you can see a lot even
Speaker 1: from areas like Central Park or other downtowns. Let's say
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, Believe it or not, the moon particular planets,
Speaker 1: and don't forget if you want to look at Earth satellites,
Speaker 1: here's a great recommendation. Go to Heavens dash above dot com,
Speaker 1: plug in your city. You'll get to be the favorite
Speaker 1: of the neighborhood when it comes to knowing what satellite
Speaker 1: just passed overhead? What do we remind everybody? Doctor Sky
Speaker 1: reminds you'd always murder to keep your feet on the ground,
Speaker 1: your eyes to the skies, and I'm humbled to be
Speaker 1: your navigator on this highway to the Heavens, clear skies,
Speaker 1: and good health until we meet again.