Speaker 1: Welcome once again to the Doctor Sky experience. You're listening
Speaker 1: to me, Doctor Sky on talk radio seventy seven w ABC,
Speaker 1: the crown jewel of radio, the iconic talk radio station
Speaker 1: seventy seven WABC with our weekly Doctor Sky podcast. Sky Update.
Speaker 1: Welcome as we discuss episode fifteen. As we move deeper
Speaker 1: into the month of January twenty twenty three, Hoping your
Speaker 1: skies are clear, and now that the moon is literally
Speaker 1: out of the sky, you have an opportunity within the
Speaker 1: sound of my voice to be able to see some
Speaker 1: interesting events. Whether you're listening to us here in the
Speaker 1: New York metro area or around the nation, around the world,
Speaker 1: or around the universe, you're at the right place. We
Speaker 1: find out that the moon is new on the twenty
Speaker 1: first as we welcome in Chinese New Year, the Year
Speaker 1: of the Rabbit, and the moon will continue to be
Speaker 1: a thin, waxing crescent visible loam in the southwest sky
Speaker 1: as it heads higher and higher away from the setting
Speaker 1: Sun as it moves on to first quarter phase on
Speaker 1: the twenty eighth of January. What's interesting about the moon,
Speaker 1: especially when it's at first quarter, is that you have
Speaker 1: an opportunity to see the best of shadow relief and
Speaker 1: probably at one of the most convenient times. Unless you're
Speaker 1: an early morning skywatcher, we recommend paying attention to that
Speaker 1: first quarter moon, whether you're a newbie at this or
Speaker 1: well seasoned observer, that particular time of the moon, when
Speaker 1: it's half illuminated the dark and light line separation we
Speaker 1: call the terminator on the moon. But on that night
Speaker 1: of January the twenty eighth, if you peer deeper and
Speaker 1: deeper with binoculars and telescopes right along that shadow line,
Speaker 1: you get to see some of the most amazing relief
Speaker 1: in black and white from the Earth's nearest neighbor of
Speaker 1: the Moon, some two hundred and forty thousand miles away.
Speaker 1: But things get better, as we'll now be discussing Comet ZTF, yes,
Speaker 1: the short version of the Zuiki transit comet itself, this
Speaker 1: comet coming closer to the Earth right around February the second,
Speaker 1: by about twenty six million miles. Take it from me.
Speaker 1: Even here in the light polluted areas of Phoenix, Arizona's
Speaker 1: fifth largest city, it was still faint in the pair
Speaker 1: of binoculars. But I did it during conditions when the
Speaker 1: moon was not out, so for skywatchers ready to see
Speaker 1: Comet ZTF know that it's become a circumpolar comet. What
Speaker 1: does that mean. It means it's encroaching closer and closer
Speaker 1: to the area around the north star or Polaris, so
Speaker 1: that very soon let's move into this next week, the
Speaker 1: comet will should it should be I say, in the
Speaker 1: sky all night and doesn't set, But simply a pair
Speaker 1: of binoculars and dark skies are really required. But something
Speaker 1: else if you're interested in planets, take advantage of this.
Speaker 1: As we look into the southwest just after sunset on
Speaker 1: Sunday evening the twenty second and the twenty third, there
Speaker 1: was an opportunity to see the Moon, the planet Venus,
Speaker 1: and the planets Saturn close together. But still there's time
Speaker 1: to see this beautiful conjunction of planets. These two planets Venus,
Speaker 1: the goddess of love and beauty, and Saturn, the original
Speaker 1: green planet, as I like to call it, easy to
Speaker 1: see with the clear sky in the southwest with the
Speaker 1: naked eye. The objects will closest by about the twenty second,
Speaker 1: about a third of a degree apart. That's about the
Speaker 1: size or just a little bit less. Let's say than
Speaker 1: that of what a full moon diameter in the sky
Speaker 1: should be. That clear skies are necessary, we have many
Speaker 1: other beautiful things to see during the time of the month.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned before, near or around the darker the
Speaker 1: moon or new moon. WoT opinion is, look high into
Speaker 1: the southeastern sky right around sunset and you'll get to
Speaker 1: see the beauty of the constellation Ryum the Hunter. This
Speaker 1: one of the most magical constellations in the entire sky
Speaker 1: because it has a star to the upper left area
Speaker 1: of Orion known as Beetlejuice, that is in the armpit
Speaker 1: area of Orion, a star that's a red super giant
Speaker 1: that may one day, according to astronomers, and they're accurate
Speaker 1: on this may implode and give us our first supernova
Speaker 1: that we've had in quite a long time. But the
Speaker 1: problem is nature does things on their time schedule, his
Speaker 1: or hers. This explosion could happen in months, it could
Speaker 1: happen in years, or it could happen simply in thousands
Speaker 1: of years. But as you look toward Beetlejuice, know that
Speaker 1: the star is about five hundred light years away, just
Speaker 1: to the opposite side of oryon Hunter. Their Hunter is
Speaker 1: a beautiful blue super giant star known as Rigel. It
Speaker 1: too is a blazing object in the heavens and easy
Speaker 1: to see. But what about deep into the area of
Speaker 1: Orion just below the three belt stars, and you can
Speaker 1: find this by looking at a simple star chart. But
Speaker 1: again following our blog here at WABC radio dot com
Speaker 1: for the Doctor Sky Blog talking and giving you information
Speaker 1: that is about how to find many of these objects
Speaker 1: that we see by providing you a monthly star chart
Speaker 1: that you can simply download. I'm talking about just below
Speaker 1: those three belt stars is the Orion nebula, an object
Speaker 1: where stars are born some seventeen hundred light years away.
Speaker 1: And believe me, folks, it's a real show style because
Speaker 1: if you take a look at this object in binoculars
Speaker 1: and a dark sky, I'm sure you can gather some
Speaker 1: friends and family members to witness a most amazing stellar
Speaker 1: nursery some seventeen hundred light years away. Doctor Sky always
Speaker 1: reminds you to keep your eyes to the skies as
Speaker 1: we're here on Talk Radio seventy seven WABC, the crown
Speaker 1: jewel of radio broadcasting here out of New York City,
Speaker 1: around the nation, around the world, and literally around the Universe.
Speaker 1: I'm your navigator on the highway to the heavens. And
Speaker 1: if you'd like to email me, it's real simple. It's
Speaker 1: simply doctor Sky Show at gmail dot com. That's Drsky
Speaker 1: Show at gmail dot com. And again, thanks to John
Speaker 1: Katzimatitis and the Cats Roundtable and the weekend radio show
Speaker 1: that I do appear as a guest with Creton information
Speaker 1: from the realms of astronomy, space, aviation, and weather. And
Speaker 1: now twice a month, every other Wednesday here with Frank
Speaker 1: Morano on the other side of midnight, discussing all these
Speaker 1: great things. Where you could call in to America's iconic
Speaker 1: radio station, the crown jewel of radio talk radio, seventy
Speaker 1: seven WABC. Always remember to keep your eyes to the skies.
Speaker 1: I'm your navigator on the highway to the heavens. Clear
Speaker 1: skies and health and happiness to wal