A Honey Moon with the Sixth Planet from the Sun!
DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS!
I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINATTI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA
SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.
NEXT WEEK, WE HAVE THREE SUPER SPECIAL EVENTS IN THE SKY
FOR YOU.
THE FIRST IS THE OPPOSITION OF SATURN ON JUNE 27TH.
DEAN: THE SECOND IS THAT WE HAVE A FULL MOON,
ALSO ON JUNE 27TH.
JAMES (DANCING): AND THIRD…
WELL, YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS THIS ONE BECAUSE I'M DANCING.
DEAN: YEP, THE THIRD IS A CONJUNCTION OF THE MOON
AND SATURN ON, YOU GUESSED IT,
JUNE 27TH.
LET'S SHOW YOU!
DEAN: OK, WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET UP FOR JUST AFTER
SUNSET ON JUNE 27TH, WHERE IF YOU FACE SOUTHEAST, YOU'LL SEE
A BRILLIANTLY BRIGHT FULL MOON.
THIS IS A SPECIAL FULL MOON BECAUSE ITS THE CLOSEST FULL MOON TO THE SUMMER SOLSTICE.
JAMES: TRADITIONALLY,
EACH FULL MOON IS GIVEN A NICKNAME.
THE FULL MOON IN JUNE HAS A FEW.
ONE OF THEM IS THE STRAWBERRY MOON, BECAUSE STRAWBERRY SEASON IS AT ITS PEAK
IN JUNE AND THATS THE BEST TIME FOR HARVESTING.
DEAN: PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN NORTHERN LATITUDES OFTEN
REFER TO THIS FULL MOON AS THE ROSE MOON OR THE
HONEY MOON.
THATS BECAUSE THE MOON IS CLOSE THE SAME POSITION ON THE CELESTIAL
SPHERE OCCUPIED BY THE SUN ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE.
THEREFORE, THE MOON RIDES VERY LOW ACROSS THE SKY.
JAMES: SINCE THE MOON IS LOWER IN THE SKY FOR OBSERVERS
IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, IF YOU LIVE ABOVE 50 DEGREES
NORTH LATITUDE, THE MOON WILL STAY NEAR THE HORIZON MOST OF
THE EVENING.
DEAN: AS A RESULT,
YOURE SEEING THE MOON THROUGH THICKER LAYERS OF OUR ATMOSPHERE AND THE MOON LIGHT IS BENT,
MAKING THE MOON TAKE ON A ROSY OR HONEY COLORED HUE.
HENCE THE NAMES ROSE MOON OR
HONEY MOON.
JAMES: NEXT TO THE MOON, YOU'LL SEE A RELATIVELY
BRIGHT LIGHT THAT ISNT TWINKLING.
THAT IS DEAN'S FAVORITE PLANET, SATURN.
EVEN THOUGH THE FULL MOON IS RIGHT NEXT TO SATURN,
ITS PARTICULARLY EASY TO SEE BECAUSE SATURN IS ALSO AT OPPOSITION THIS YEAR ON JUNE 27TH.
DEAN: LET'S HEAD INTO SPACE AND EXPLAIN A LITTLE
BIT ABOUT WHAT OPPOSITION MEANS.
DEAN: WHEN WE VIEW OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FROM HIGH ABOVE
THE NORTH POLE OF OUR SUN, WE CAN SEE
EARTH'S ORBIT AND SATURN'S ORBIT.
EARTH IS ABOUT 93 MILLION MILES AWAY FROM THE SUN AND IT
TAKES 365 1/4 DAYS FOR EARTH TO MAKE ONE TRIP AROUND THE SUN.
IN NON-TECHNICAL LANGUAGE, WE REFER TO THAT
AS A YEAR.
JAMES: SATURN IS THE 6TH PLANET FROM THE SUN AND
IS ALMOST 900 MILLION MILES AWAY.
IT MOVES MUCH SLOWER IN ITS ORBIT AND IT TAKES ALMOST 30 YEARS TO MAKE ONE TRIP AROUND THE
SUN.
THEREFORE, EARTH MAKES 30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN FOR EVERY
ONE TRIP OF SATURN.
DEAN: WHEN SATURN IS AT
IT'S GREATEST DISTANCE FROM EARTH, IT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SUN AS SEEN
FROM EARTH AND THAT IS CALLED SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION;
WHICH HAPPENED LAST YEAR ON DECEMBER 21st.
ON THAT DAY, SATURN WAS A WHOPPING ONE BILLION MILES AWAY
FROM US.
BUT 6 MONTHS LATER, SATURN WILL BE LINED UP
ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE SUN AS THE EARTH,
AND A LOT CLOSER.
JAMES: So, IF YOU THINK OF IT FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE,
THE EARTH IS IN THE MIDDLE AND SATURN WILL BE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SKY WITH RESPECT
TO THE SUN.
THIS ORIENTATION OF THE SUN,
THE EARTH AND A PLANET IS CALLED OPPOSITION.
WHENEVER A PLANET IS AT OPPOSITION,
IT IS ALWAYS AT ITS CLOSEST AND BRIGHTEST.
SO THIS WEEK, SATURN WILL BE JUST OVER 841 MILLION MILES AWAY,
which is almost 200 million miles closer than it was
back in December!
JAMES: SO CHECK OUT SATURN THIS WEEK AND
MAKE SURE YOU MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE NIGHT OF JUNE
27TH TO WATCH THE HONEY MOON RISE AT THE SAME TIME AS SATURN.
DEAN: AND WHILE YOU'RE LOOKING AT SATURN, PONDER
THIS LITTLE BIT OF TRIVIA.
OF ALL THE PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM, SATURN HAS THE
LEAST DENSITY.
THIS MEANS THAT FOR AS BIG AS SATURN IS,
IT'S NOT AS HEAVY AS YOU MIGHT THINK.
ITS DENSITY IS SO LOW THAT YOU COULD ACTUALLY FLOAT SATURN IN A BATH TUB
FULL OF WATER; IF YOU HAD A BATH TUB BIG ENOUGH.
JAMES: HMMM...
SATURN IN A BATH TUB?
I WONDER IF SATURN WOULD LEAVE A RING.
DEAN: UGH!
ON THAT NOTE, HAPPY SATURN WATCHING, AND…
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!