Speaker 1: I'm Doctor Sky, welcoming you to the Doctor Sky Experience,
Speaker 1: exclusively here at Talk Radio seventy seven WABC, the iconic
Speaker 1: radio station, the crown jewel of radio, as we talk
Speaker 1: with you about great events from the realms of astronomy, space, aviation,
Speaker 1: and weather with the Doctor Sky Experience. First, a happy
Speaker 1: New Year to each and every one of you. As
Speaker 1: we move rapidly into January.
Speaker 2: Of twenty twenty three here.
Speaker 1: On America's iconic radio station WABC out of New York City,
Speaker 1: to the world and beyond, we begin with January Skies
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. And did you know the interesting time
Speaker 1: ball that drops every year as we herald in a
Speaker 1: new year from Times Square has an interesting history.
Speaker 2: Beyond what is the history of the time ball?
Speaker 1: We go back in time and look to a Royal
Speaker 1: Navy officer known as Robert watch Up. He developed the
Speaker 1: time ball back around the year eighteen eighteen as he
Speaker 1: became interested in developing a method for signaling from an
Speaker 1: observatory to ships so the exact time could be set
Speaker 1: on their chronometers on board so they could navigate around
Speaker 1: the world. Once again, things that I thought you'd like
Speaker 1: to know as we move into the new year with
Speaker 1: precise time. But the earth changing rotation speed is a
Speaker 1: subject we'll talk about in future Doctor Sky episodes and
Speaker 1: what we do about it, because we rely so much
Speaker 1: with our modern systems today, with computers, aviation, and so
Speaker 1: much more about progress here in our world. But we
Speaker 1: begin with Earth's nearest neighbor, the moon. As we open
Speaker 1: up January twenty twenty three skies, we find the moon
Speaker 1: to be a waxing gibbous moon moving rapidly on to
Speaker 1: its full phase that takes place on the sex with
Speaker 1: the full wolf moon. On the day of the eighth,
Speaker 1: the moon is at abergee, that is the farthest position
Speaker 1: away from us, and then we find out that the
Speaker 1: moon moves on to the last quarter as it continues
Speaker 1: to wane by the fifteenth of January, the new moon
Speaker 1: of the darker the moon. A great time in my opinion,
Speaker 1: to view many of the sky objects if you have
Speaker 1: a clear view of the sky and good weather to
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 2: The new moon on the twenty first.
Speaker 1: Also on that date, the moon is at a position
Speaker 1: we call perige, which means it's closest to the Earth.
Speaker 1: Then we find the moon moving on as a waxing
Speaker 1: crescent is below in the southwestern part of the sky
Speaker 1: just after sunset. Then the sky show gets better, Ladies
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, as we see many conjunction of planets here
Speaker 1: in our skies on this particular Doctor Sky experience our
Speaker 1: particular episode here as we talk about the Doctor Sky
Speaker 1: episode and update number twelve, did you also know that
Speaker 1: on January the fourth, the Earth is closest to the
Speaker 1: Sun at a distance of some ninety one million, four
Speaker 1: hundred and three thirty four miles. That's right, And you
Speaker 1: may wonder if we're closest to the Earth.
Speaker 2: I'll come, it's so cold.
Speaker 1: A lot to do with the inclination and tip on
Speaker 1: the Earth's axis to twenty three and a half degrees,
Speaker 1: and from simple science we know that they're in the winter,
Speaker 1: we tip away from the sun in the northern hemisphere
Speaker 1: of the southern hemisphere is bathed in sun. Also on
Speaker 1: the corollary side. On July fourth or so, near exact date,
Speaker 1: the Earth itself is farthest away from the Sun, and
Speaker 1: we experience that at a distance of ninety four million,
Speaker 1: five hundred and six thousand, three.
Speaker 2: Hundred and sixty four miles.
Speaker 1: The difference between the two is an incredible three million,
Speaker 1: one hundred and three thousand, three hundred and thirty miles.
Speaker 1: We would be wondering why the difference, and that is
Speaker 1: due to the Earth's orbit, which is pretty much an
Speaker 1: egg shaped orbit, unlike planets like Venus that have a
Speaker 1: nearly circular or matt I thought you're going to come
Speaker 1: also for other interesting events. If skywatchers have an opportunity
Speaker 1: in the early morning hours of the fourth and you
Speaker 1: have dark skies, the annual quadranted meteor shower takes place.
Speaker 1: But you'd better be on time because this particular meteor
Speaker 1: shower lasts with a peak of only a few hours,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately, the nearly full moon will wash out many
Speaker 1: of the bright meetings. Why do I mention it because
Speaker 1: in some years the quadrante meteor shower had rates of
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty metiears an hour, and that is
Speaker 1: under the best of conditions dark and moonless skies. We
Speaker 1: also find out that for planets, the planetary show is
Speaker 1: amazing as we move into January of this year twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, because all of the major planets are in
Speaker 1: the evening sky, some.
Speaker 2: Easily visible and some not.
Speaker 1: We begin just after sunset, and if your skies are
Speaker 1: clear during this period in early January, the goddess of
Speaker 1: love and beauty yourself.
Speaker 2: The planet Venus is easy.
Speaker 1: To see with the naked eye, the planet Mars, and
Speaker 1: excuse me, the planet Mercury lurks very close. Also, moving
Speaker 1: to the left along the Zodiac path, we come to
Speaker 1: the bright, bright planet Saturn, and that's.
Speaker 2: Easy to see with the naked eye.
Speaker 1: Continuing to the left along the Zodiac path, we would
Speaker 1: come to the planet Neptune, planet that's not visible to
Speaker 1: the naked eye, but nonetheless in our evening skies too,
Speaker 1: And then the sky show gets better. Continue to the
Speaker 1: left alone the zodiac and it'll come to Jupiter, the
Speaker 1: god of Gods, or Zeus, easy to see, bright best
Speaker 1: in binoculars in a telescope. And then following the Zodiac,
Speaker 1: as we continue to count down all of the major
Speaker 1: seven planets, and of course the Earth you're standing on
Speaker 1: that's number eight, you come to Uranus, an object that
Speaker 1: requires a pair of binoculars or a telescope to be seen,
Speaker 1: discovered by the astronomer William Herschel back on the evening
Speaker 1: of March thirteenth of seventeen eighty one. And then finally
Speaker 1: the brilliant planet Mars, the red god of War, easy
Speaker 1: to see high up into the eastern part of the
Speaker 1: sky and nearly overhead by around eleven pm local time.
Speaker 1: How about this some interesting conjunctions of objects in the
Speaker 1: sky we call them planets and the moon look low
Speaker 1: into the southwestern sky on the evening of January the
Speaker 1: twenty second of Love and Beauty, Venus will come to
Speaker 1: conjunction with Saturn by less than a half a degree
Speaker 1: in the sky the early evening sky. Don't miss it,
Speaker 1: and we find out another amazing thing will happen on
Speaker 1: the thirty first, But from any observers, this might also
Speaker 1: happen on January the thirtieth. Check more information on the
Speaker 1: World Wide Web to learn about precise times.
Speaker 2: What I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: Is the second appearance of where the Moon will cover
Speaker 1: up or eclipse or recult the red God of War
Speaker 1: the planet Mars. In many calendars, it looks like that'll
Speaker 1: happen on the night of the thirtieth, that as we
Speaker 1: move into the morning of the thirty first, I'll have
Speaker 1: to check your observation. Simply go on the world wide
Speaker 1: Web and check this out as you look to what
Speaker 1: we call an occultation of the planet Mars. And also
Speaker 1: check the Doctor Sky blog here at WABC radio dot
Speaker 1: com for more information.
Speaker 2: And details on this amazing effect. We love your emails.
Speaker 1: It's simply Doctor Skyshow at gmail dot com. That's drsy
Speaker 1: Show at gmail dot com. As I'm your navigator on
Speaker 1: the Eyeway to the heavens, as we continue to talk
Speaker 1: with Frank Morano on the other side of Midnight and
Speaker 1: privilegingited to be with John Katzimatitis on the Cats at
Speaker 1: Night program and the Weekend Cat's Review with great guests.
Speaker 1: As you know, ladies and gentlemen from around the world, newsmakers,
Speaker 1: important newsmakers that make up the great show that we
Speaker 1: have here on WABC. Once again, always remember to keep
Speaker 1: your eyes to the skies as I'm simply your navigator
Speaker 1: on the highway to the heavens. On Talk Radio seventy
Speaker 1: seven WABC, the crown Jewel of radio, the iconic Talk
Speaker 1: Radio seventy seven WABC, Clear skys, Health and happiness to
Speaker 1: all as we move rapidly into the year twenty twenty three,