DEAN: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS.
I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE,
FLORIDA.
WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY.
IT'S EMBARRASSING TO ADMIT, BUT DEAN AND I HAVE FAVORITE STARS.
DEAN: WHO'S EMBARRASSED?
IT'S TRUE!
NOW, YOU MAY THINK WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE STARS TOO LONG, BUT SOME STARS JUST HAVE CHARACTER.
JAMES: STARS VARY IN BRIGHTNESS, SIZE, DISTANCE, AND ESPECIALLY COLOR.
DEAN: WHEN WE THINK OF STARS, WE IMMEDIATELY THINK THEY'RE ALL WHITE.
NOT SO.
STARS COME IN ALL COLORS OF THE RAINBOW, FROM RUBY RED TO TANGERINE…
JAMES: FROM PLATINUM-BLONDE TO DEEP BLUE.
DEAN: AND THESE DISTINCT COLORS THAT YOU CAN SEE WITH THE NAKED EYE TELL US A LOT.
HERE, LET'S SHOW YOU…
JAMES: WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET FOR ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK AFTER SUNSET FACING SOUTHWEST.
THERE YOU'LL FIND THE CONSTELLATION ORION THE HUNTER WITH HIS DISTINCTIVE BELT OF THREE
STARS.
IF YOU LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER YOU'LL SEE STARS OF DIFFERENT BRIGHTNESS AND COLOR.
DEAN: STAR COLOR IS AN INDICATION OF ITS TEMPERATURE - BLUE STARS BEING THE HOTTEST AND RED STARS
BEING THE COLDEST.
YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE COLORS OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS LIKE THOSE IN ORION.
MOST OF HIS STARS ARE BLUE - LIKE THE BELT STARS ALNITAK, ALNILAM, AND MINTAKA.
JAMES: AND ORIONS LEFT FOOT, THE STAR RIGEL IS BLUE TOO.
DEAN: BUT MY FAVORITE BLUE STAR IS IN ORION'S SHOULDER - CALLED BELLATRIX.
BELLATRIX IS ONE OF THE HOTTEST STARS AT OVER 38,000 DEGREES.
THROUGH A TELESCOPE, BELLATRIX IS THE DEEPEST BLUE I HAVE EVER SEEN.
WHENEVER I SHOW THIS STAR TO VISITORS AT THE OBSERVATORY, THEY BECOME MESMERIZED.
JAMES: BELLATRIX HAS A MYSTERIOUS HISTORY.
ITS NAME MEANS "BEAUTIFUL AMAZON-WOMAN-STAR."
THE STAR'S INFLUENCE WAS SAID TO PRODUCE STRONG QUALITIES IN WOMEN, AND RENDERED THOSE BORN
UNDER IT LUCKY AND LOQUACIOUS.
HOWEVER, LITTLE ELSE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THIS NAME.
DEAN: BUT WHAT IS SUCH A FEMININE STAR DOING IN ORION, THE BIGGEST, BADDEST MACHO MAN IN
THE SKY?
AS TOUGH AS ORION IS, I GUESS HE'S STILL IN TOUCH WITH HIS FEMININE SIDE.
DEAN: MARKING ORION'S OTHER SHOULDER IS THE STAR BETELGEUSE.
ACTUALLY, IN MOST LEGENDS, ORION HAS HIS RIGHT ARM RAISED, HOLDING A CLUB, AND BETELGEUSE
MARKS HIS, UH, UNDERARM.
BETELGEUSE ROUGHLY TRANSLATES FROM ANCIENT ARABIC AS ARMPIT OF THE GIANT.
JAMES: NOT ONLY DOES THIS STAR HAVE A COLORFUL NAME, BUT IT ALSO SHINES WITH A BEAUTIFUL
RED GLOW.
THIS COLOR GIVES US A HINT TO ITS TEMPERATURE - ABOUT 5,800 DEGREES ON ITS SURFACE.
MUCH COLDER THAN BLUE BELLATRIX.
DEAN: THE NATIVE AMERICANS OF THE AMAZON RIVER VALLEY LINK THESE TWO, BELLATRIX AND BETELGEUSE,
IN A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY.
THEY PICTURE BELLATRIX AS A YOUNG BOY SWIFTLY PADDLING HIS CANOE, WHILE OLD MAN BETELGEUSE
IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP.
JAMES: BUT THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE NIGHT SKY IS THE DOG STAR, SIRIUS, OVER TO THE LEFT
OF ORION.
SIRIUS BLAZES WITH A STARK WHITE LIGHT IN THE SOUTH, AND A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 17,000
DEGREES.
DEAN: SIRIUS IS A TINY STAR COMPARED TO BLUE BELLATRIX, AND IS ALMOST NOTHING NEXT TO BEHEMOTH
BETELGEUSE.
THE ONLY REASON SIRIUS IS SO BRIGHT IS BECAUSE ITS SO MUCH CLOSER TO US - ONLY 8.6 LIGHT
YEARS AWAY.
COMPARED TO OVER 240 LIGHT YEARS TO BELLATRIX AND 640 LIGHT YEARS TO BETELGEUSE.
JAMES: CAPELLA IS A BRIGHT STAR REALLY HIGH IN THE WESTERN SKY THIS EVENING.
CAPELLA IS SIMILAR TO OUR SUN IN TEMPERATURE - AND SO IT SHOULD LOOK ABOUT THE SAME COLOR
- YELLOWISH-WHITE.
BUT CAPELLA IS MUCH LARGER.
DEAN: PLUS THERES NOT JUST ONE STAR THERE, BUT FOUR STARS ORBITING EACH OTHER!
IMAGINE ALL THE SUNSETS AND SUNRISES YOU COULD SEE FROM A PLANET IN A SYSTEM WITH FOUR SUNS!
JAMES: LIKE CAPELLA, OUR SUN FALLS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TEMPERATURE SPECTRUM.
WITH A SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF ROUGHLY 10,000 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, THE SUN BATHES US IN THE
YELLOW-WHITE LIGHT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE.
DEAN: I KNOW THAT DIMMER STARS ALL APPEAR WHITE TO OUR EYES.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THESE SAME STARS THROUGH BINOCULARS OR A TELESCOPE, YOU'LL SEE THEIR
INDIVIDUAL COLORS MORE DISTINCTLY.
JAMES: FROM RED TO BLUE, THE HUES ARE SUBTLE, BUT ONCE YOU TRAIN YOUR EYE TO SEARCH OUT
THESE VARIATIONS OF COLOR, YOU MAY DISCOVER THAT YOU HAVE FAVORITE STARS TOO.
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!