“BOOTES!”
JAMES: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.
I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE FLORIDA.
DEAN: AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: SPRINGTIME IS KNOWN FOR GREAT KITE-FLYING WEATHER.
AND COINCIDENTALLY, THERE IS A CONSTELLATION VISIBLE AFTER SUNSET THAT LOOKS SURPRISINGLY
LIKE A KITE!
DEAN: YES INDEED, JAMES.
THIS WEEK WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE CONSTELLATION BOOTES THE HERDSMAN, AND GIVE
YOU SOME INFORMATION ABOUT SOME OF ITS BRIGHTEST STARS.
JAMES: LET’S SHOW YOU!
JAMES: OK, WE HAVE OUR SKY SET FOR 10 PM FACING NORTHEAST WHERE WE SEE THE BIG DIPPER HIGH
ABOVE THE NORTH STAR.
IF ITS CUP WAS FULL OF WATER IT'D BE POURING RIGHT INTO THE LITTLE DIPPER AND OVERFLOWING
ONTO ME!
DEAN: IF WE SHOOT AN ARROW THROUGH THE TWO STARS ON THE END OF THE BIG DIPPER'S CUP,
AND CONTINUE THAT LINE, IT'LL RUN SMACK DAB INTO THE NORTH STAR.
JAMES: NOW, LET'S USE THE BIG DIPPER’S HANDLE TO FIND BOOTES.
SIMPLY DRAW AN IMAGINARY LINE THROUGH THE HANDLE OF THE BIG DIPPER AND EXTEND IT OUT
ALONG THE CURVE, OR ARC, AND YOU'LL ARC YOUR WAY TO THE BRIGHT STAR, ARCTURUS.
DEAN: ARCTURUS IS THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN BOOTES THE HERDSMAN AND HAS THE UNIQUE DISTINCTION
OF BEING THE FOURTH BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE NIGHT SKY; THE BRIGHTEST BEING SIRIUS, THE
2ND BEING CANOPUS AND THE 3RD BEING ALPHA CENTAURI.
JAMES: JOHANN BAYER USED GREEK LETTERS (ALPHA THROUGH OMEGA AND THEN A THROUGH K TO LABEL
THE 35 MOST PROMINENT STARS IN BOOTES.
JOHN FLAMSTEED LATER INCREASED THIS NUMBER TO 54 STARS.
DEAN: GOOD LUCK FINDING ALL THOSE STARS WITHOUT A SUPER DARK SKY.
NEVER THE LESS, EIGHT OF THOSE STARS ARE EASILY VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE, AND THE SIX BRIGHTEST
ONES ARE VISIBLE FROM THE CITY.
JAMES: THOSE STARS FORM A KITE-SHAPED PATTERN.
THEIR NAMES, TRAVELING COUNTER-CLOCKWISE FROM ARCTURUS ARE: RHO BOOTIS, SEGINUS, NEKKAR,
DELTA BOOTIS AND IZAR.
THE TWO STARS HANGING OFF EITHER SIDE OF ARCTURUS ARE MUPHRID (TO THE WEST) AND ZETA BOOTIS
(TOWARD THE EAST).
DEAN: ARCTURUS GOT ITS NAME FROM AN ANCIENT GREEK WORD THAT MEANT “GUARDIAN OF THE BEAR”.
THIS MAKES SENSE SINCE THE CONSTELLATION OF BOOTES IS RIGHT NEXT TO URSA MAJOR, THE GREAT
BEAR.
JAMES: ARCTURUS IS ALMOST 37 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM US AND IS A RED GIANT STAR ABOUT 110
TIMES BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN.
IT IS ALSO ESTIMATED TO BE SLIGHTLY LARGER (MASS-WISE) THAN THE SUN AND BETWEEN 6 BILLION
AND 8.5 BILLION YEARS OLD.
DEAN: POLYNESIAN NAVIGATORS CALLED ARCTURUS “HO-KU-LEA”, THE “STAR OF JOY” AND
FROM HAWAII, ARCTURUS BECAME KNOWN AS THE “ZENITH STAR” BECAUSE IT PASSES ALMOST
DIRECTLY OVERHEAD (AS SEEN FROM HAWAII) NEAR MIDNIGHT IN THE LAST FEW DAYS OF APRIL.
DEAN: ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT ABOUT BOOTES IS THAT IT’S THE RADIANT CONSTELLATION FOR
THE QUANDRANTIDS METEOR SHOWER.
THE QUANDRANTIDS IS A SURPRISINGLY PROLIFIC METEOR SHOWER WHICH OFTEN PEAKS WITH ZENITHAL
HOURLY RATES OF AROUND 130 METEORS PER HOUR.
JAMES: THIS METEOR SHOWER REACHES ITS PEAK FOR ONLY A FEW HOURS BETWEEN JANUARY 3RD AND
4TH AND GETS IT’S NAME FROM QUANDRANS MURALIS; A CONSTELLATION CREATED BY THE FRENCH ASTRONOMER
JÉRÔME LALANDE IN 1795.
IT DEPICTED A WALL-MOUNTED QUADRANT WITH WHICH HE AND HIS NEPHEW MICHEL LEFRANÇOIS DE LALANDE
USED FOR STELLAR CARTOGRAPHY.
JAMES: AND IF YOU LIKE ASTERISMS, WE HAVE A SPRING TRIANGLE TO SHOW YOU, USING ARCTURUS,
REGULUS AND SPICA.
REGULUS IS THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN LEO THE LION.
YOU CAN FIND IT USING THE TWO STARS MEGREZ AND PHECDA, WHICH ARE IN THE BOWL OF THE BIG
DIPPER, CLOSEST TO THE HANDLE.
DEAN: BY DRAWING A LINE FROM MEGREZ THROUGH PHECDA, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY RUN INTO THE HEAD
OF LEO THE LION, WHICH RESEMBLES A BACKWARDS QUESTION MARK; THE “DOT” OF THE QUESTION
MARK IS REGULUS.
JAMES: THE NEXT STAR, SPICA IS EASY TO FIND USING OUR “ARC TO ARCTURUS” TRICK.
BY CONTINUING THE LINE FROM THE BIG DIPPER’S HANDLE, THROUGH ARCTURUS, YOU’LL “SPEED
OVER” TO SPICA, THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN VIRGO THE MAIDEN.
DEAN: SO, BY DRAWING A LINE FROM REGULUS, TO SPICA AND OVER TO ARCTURUS, YOU CAN MAKE
THE SPRING TRIANGLE.
JAMES: JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT ONLY THE SUMMER, WINTER AND FALL HAD GEOMETRIC PATTERNS.
DEAN: SO, GET OUTSIDE AND CHECK OUT THE KITE-SHAPED CONSTELLATION OF BOOTES THE HERDSMAN WITH
ITS BRIGHT STAR ARCTURUS…
JAMES: AND SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THE SPRING TRIANGLE!
DEAN: IT’S ALL THEIR WAITING FOR YOU WHEN YOU…
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!