00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 27 episode 132
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 for broadcast on the 1st of November
00:00:06 --> 00:00:10 2024 coming up on SpaceTime could bleers
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 actually be two stars Richard Branson to
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 co-pilot the first man flight for space
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 perspective and they haven't put
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 anything in orbit for half a century but
00:00:20 --> 00:00:21 Australia is looking at developing more
00:00:21 --> 00:00:25 space ports all that and more coming up
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 on
00:00:26 --> 00:00:31 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with st
00:00:31 --> 00:00:38 [Music]
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Gary a new study has raised the
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 possibility that the red super giant
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 bleers may actually be a binary star
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 system now if that's the case it means
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 the star may not be on the brink of
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 exploding as a supernova after all
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 located between 530 and 643 light years
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 away belgers is the brightest star of
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 the constellation Orion the 10th
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 brightest star in our night skies and
00:01:09 --> 00:01:10 one of the largest and most luminous
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 stars visible with the uned eye commonly
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 called Beetle Juice don't say it three
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 times its name before centuries of
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 tortured mispronunciations started out
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 as IAL yaza meaning hand of the big man
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 in Arabic the big man being a Ryan the
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 hunter bleo began its life about 10
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 million years ago as as a spectr type OB
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 blue star making it one of the largest
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 and most luminous main sequence Stars
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 calculations of BG's Mass range from
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 slightly under 10 to a little over 20
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 times that of our sun with some 100
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 times the sun's brightness and around
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 1100 times its diameter if belgers were
00:01:48 --> 00:01:49 at the location of the Sun at the center
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 of our solar system its surface would
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 extend almost out as far as Jupiter
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 engulfing the orbits of Mercury Venus
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Earth Mars and the main asteroid belt
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 it's now bloated old semi-regular
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 variable red super giant red super
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 Giants are the largest stars in the
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 universe in terms of their volume
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 eventually they explode as core collapse
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 Supernova ending up as neutron stars or
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 Stellar Mass black holes and battle go
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 is expected to explode any day now which
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 in astronomical terms could mean a
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 million years from now or it could mean
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 tomorrow when it does explode it'll
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 temporarily outshine all the other stars
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 in the galaxy and it will be clearly
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 visible in the daytime sky here on Earth
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 the last star seen by humans to go
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 supernova in our galaxy was Tao star
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 that was way back in 1572 long before
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 the invention of the telescope however
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 these new observations mean BOS may not
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 be on the brink of exploding after all
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 astronomers can predict when a star will
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 die by effectively checking its pulse
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 what happens is stars get brighter and
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 dimmer pulsing like a heartbeat counting
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 down to an eventual supern explosion
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 however the new observations on bleers
00:03:00 --> 00:03:01 reported in the astrophysical journal
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 suggested the pulsing of this star could
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 be caused by an unseen companion star
00:03:05 --> 00:03:09 orbiting bleg formerly named Alpha Orion
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 B this tentative second star would be
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 acting like a sort of snow plow orbiting
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 bleers and pushing light blocking dust
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 out of the way temporarily making balgar
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 seem brighter that's the pulse the
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 study's lead author Jared Goldberg from
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 the flat iron Institute says he's
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 already ruled out every other intrinsic
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 sort of source for variability and the
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 only High hypothesis that seem to fit
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 the observations is that bleers has a
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 companion now to back that up Goldberg
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 and colleagues observe that bleers had
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 two heartbeats one that pulses on a time
00:03:41 --> 00:03:42 scale of a little longer than an Earth
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 year and one that pulses on a time scale
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 of about six Earth years one of those
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 heartbeats is BG's fundamental mode a
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 pattern of brightening and dimming
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 that's intrinsic to the star itself if
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 the star's fundamental mode is its
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 long-scale heartbeat then bgo could be
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 ready to blow sooner than expected
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 however if its fundamental Mur is its
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 shortscale heartbeat as several studies
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 suggest then its longer heartbeat is a
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 phenomenon C along secondary period in
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 that case the longer brightening and
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 dimming would be caused by something
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 external to the star itself now
00:04:15 --> 00:04:16 scientists still don't know for sure
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 what's causing the long secondary
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 periods but one of the leading theories
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 is that they arise when a star is a
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 companion that's circling it and barrels
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 through Cosmic dust being produced and
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 expelled by the primary star this
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 displaced dust with would alter how much
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 Starlight reaches an observer on Earth
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 changing the star's apparent brightness
00:04:35 --> 00:04:36 Goldberg and colleagues explored whether
00:04:37 --> 00:04:38 other processes could have caused a long
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 secondary period such as the churning of
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 the star's interior or periodic changes
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 in the star's powerful magnetic field
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 after combining direct observations of
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 bleers with Advanced Computer models
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 that simulate the star's activity the
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 authors concluded that a secondary star
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 is by far the most likely explanation
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 Goldberg says that if there's no
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 companion it means that something way
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 weirder must be going on something
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 impossible to explain with current
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 physics the authors have yet to explain
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 what the so-called Beetle buddy is but
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 they assume it's a star about twice the
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 mass of our sun a more exotic hypothesis
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 is that the companions a neutron star
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 the core of a star that's already gone
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 Supernova however if that's the case
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 you'd expect to see evidence of this
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 with x-ray observations and they're not
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 showing it so the authors will now try
00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 to take images of Bal body with
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 telescopes as there's a potential window
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 of visibility around December the 6
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 that's just a month away they'll need to
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 confirm that ble buddy really does exist
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 since their results are based on
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 inference not on Direct detection
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 needless to say we'll keep you informed
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 this is spacetime still to come Richard
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 Branson to co-pilot a new stratospheric
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 balloon flight and although we haven't
00:05:49 --> 00:05:50 launched an orbital mission for over
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 half a century Australia is looking at
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 developing even more space ports all
00:05:55 --> 00:06:00 that and more still to come on SpaceTime
00:06:00 --> 00:06:13 [Music]
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 it's been announced that virgin boss
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 Richard Branson will co-pilot space
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 perspective's first stratospheric
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 balloon flight last month the Florida
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 based company undertook an unman test
00:06:24 --> 00:06:25 flight over their high altitude balloon
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 and Gondola which will eventually take
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 space tourists to altitudes of over 100,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:33 000 ft that's 30 km above the ground now
00:06:33 --> 00:06:34 although that's nowhere near the edge of
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 space it's high enough to allow
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 occupants to see the curvature of the
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 earth under a black Sky even in broad
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 daylight the system uses a hydrogen
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 filled balloon and a pressurized Gondola
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 the 6-hour stratospheric flight will
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 avoid the high G forces of Rocket
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 powered space tourism flights providing
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 a far more gentle experience though it
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 will include meals and Wi-Fi it'll offer
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 up to eight passengers at a time
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 breathtaking views through p panoramic
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 windows and there's no weightlessness so
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 no risk of space sickness Branson who
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 undertook record-breaking Atlantic and
00:07:07 --> 00:07:08 Pacific Ocean balloon Crossings and
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 established the Virgin group already
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 operates Virgin Galactic which takes
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 space tourists to the very edge of space
00:07:15 --> 00:07:19 this SpaceTime still to come Australia
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 looking at developing more space ports
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 and the giant spiral galaxy M31
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 Andromeda The Crab Nebula M1 and three
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 meteor showers are among the highlights
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 of the November night skies on
00:07:31 --> 00:07:38 [Music]
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 Skywatch although Australia hasn't put
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 anything into orbit since the Glory Days
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 of the wmer rocket range over half a
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 century ago plans are a foot for new
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 spaceports with both Western Australia
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 and Queensland the latest to make
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 proposals Spaceport Australia has
00:08:00 --> 00:08:01 announced plans to construct a space
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 port on the cap York peninsula in Far
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 North Queensland the company's already
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 announced a $30 million deal to acquire
00:08:08 --> 00:08:09 two air surveillance Radars for the
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 project the deal would see the
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 technology arve by the end of
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 2026 former Australian prime minister
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 Scott Morrison has been appointed
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 chairman of the new company meanwhile on
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 the other side of the country the
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 Western Australian government appears to
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 be hitting at the idea of establishing
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 its own space port the government's new
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 space industry strategy claims the
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 state's vast Coastline and minimal air
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 traffic would make it an ideal location
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 for a space launch and return facility
00:08:37 --> 00:08:38 it's not the first time a space port has
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 been proposed in Western Australia
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 another company was looking at polar
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 rocket launches from Alban on The Great
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 Australian bite back in
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 2022 but the new plan claims Westland
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 Australia would be an ideal location for
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 communications tracking and launch
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 facilities offering a range of
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 advantages and optimal environmental
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 conditions the statement claims the
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 state clear skies large arid areas
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 minimal radio interference and location
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 around 120° apart in longitude to
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 Western Europe and North America would
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 provide an ideal worldclass location for
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 hosting space ground infrastructure and
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 of course the state already hosts dozens
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 of national and international facilities
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 that support Global coverage of space
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 assets space Communications as well as
00:09:22 --> 00:09:23 space situational awareness and
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 positioning navigation and timing
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 facilities the Western Australia space
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 industry strategy has already seen over
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 a billion dollars invested or committed
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 to Western Australia space sector since
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 2018 Australia's already home to five
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 space ports this equatorial launch
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 Australia's Aram land Space Center in
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 the Northern Territory Gilmore space
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 Technologies orbital Spaceport in North
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 Queensland and Bowen Southern launchers
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 orbital Whalers way facility and
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 suborbital Kima test range in South
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 Australia and of course there's the
00:09:54 --> 00:09:58 warmer rocket range also in sa this is
00:09:58 --> 00:09:59 spacetime
00:09:59 --> 00:10:09 [Music]
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 and time now to turn our eyes to the
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 skies and check out the celestial sphere
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 for November on Skywatch high in the
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 northern Skies of November you'll find
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 the constellation Pegasus the
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 Mesopotamian and atrasan mythical winged
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 horse who was born from the blood of
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 Medusa the Gorgon after she was slain by
00:10:33 --> 00:10:36 pereus the brightest star in Pegasus is
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 the orange super giant Epsilon pagi
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 located some 690 light years away it's
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 estimated to have about 185 times the
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 sun's radius and 12 times its mass
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 Epsilon pegasi together with the Stars
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 marab Al janib Shahid and Alpha
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 andromede forms the asterism or pattern
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 of stars known as the great square of
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 Pegasus a bunch of bright naked ey Stars
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 shaped like a square one of the stars in
00:11:02 --> 00:11:06 this constellation is 51 Pegassi 51
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 Pegassi is a sunlike Star located 51
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 light years away on October the 6th 1995
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 astronomers announced the discovery of
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 an exoplanet orbiting the star it was
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 the first ever confirmed detection of a
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 planet orbiting another star the planet
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 has around half the mass of Jupiter and
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 is thought to be a gas giant but it
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 wasn't what scientists were expecting
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 the planet orbits the star in just four
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 Earth days that's much closer than
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 Mercury's 88- day orbit around the sun
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 because it orbits so close to the star
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 51 pagi b as it's called experiences
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 temperatures estimated to be around
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 1200° C now at the time of its Discovery
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 this close distance was not compatible
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 with theories of planetary formation and
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 resulted in a lot of discussion among
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 scientists about the idea of planetary
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 migration however since its Discovery
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 numerous other so-called hot Jupiters
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 have been detected pretty much
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 confirming planetary migration to be
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 real by the way a lie well that's the
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 distance a photon can travel in a year
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 at the speed of light which is some
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 300 km/ second in a vacuum and the
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 ultimate speed limit of the universe
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 also visible in Pegasus is the M15 or
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 NGC 7078 globular cluster which is
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 located around
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 33 L years away globular clusters
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 are tight bolts containing thousands of
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 Stars which are all originally formed at
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 the same time out of the same molecular
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 gas and dust cloud M15 is estimated to
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 be around 12 billion years old making it
00:12:39 --> 00:12:40 one of the oldest known globular
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 clusters and it contains around 100
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 Stars making it one of the most densely
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 packed globular clusters in the entire
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 Milky Way galaxy its cores undergone a
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 contraction known as core collapse and
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 it has a central density CP with an
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 enormous number of stars orbiting very
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 rapidly around what appears to to be a
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 central black hole M15 also contains at
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 least 112 variable Stars eight pulsars
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 including one double neutron star system
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 and the first ever planetary nebula
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 found in a globular
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 cluster now if you're in or near the
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 Northern Hemisphere and away from City
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 Lights you'll notice a fuzzy patch of
00:13:17 --> 00:13:21 light right next to Pegasus this is the
00:13:21 --> 00:13:25 giant spiral galaxy M31
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 Andromeda Andromeda is the biggest
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 galaxy in our local Galaxy IC group
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 located some 2.5 million light years
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 away Andromeda consists of more than a
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 trillion Stars around twice the number
00:13:37 --> 00:13:41 found in the milu way and it's huge some
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 220 light years across based on
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 current estimates andrometer appears to
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 have more older stars than the Milky Way
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 it also has far less new star production
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 going on than our galaxy and the rate of
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 supernova in the Milky Way is also about
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 double that in Andromeda Andromeda is
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 surrounded by a large massive Halo of
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 hot gas and plasma estimated to contain
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 at least half the mass of the stars in
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 the galaxy this nearly invisible Halo
00:14:10 --> 00:14:11 stretches about a million light years
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 from its host Galaxy that's almost
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 halfway towards the Milky Way using a
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 good pair of binoculars or a backyard
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 telescope you'll see dark dust Lanes in
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 andromeda's spiral arms and you'll see
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 its bright Central Galactic core now
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 over time andrometer will become a lot
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 clearer that's because it's getting
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 closer you see the Milky Way and
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 Andromeda are expected to collide in
00:14:35 --> 00:14:39 about 3.7 to 4.5 billion years from now
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 the two spirals eventually merging to
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 form a new giant elliptical galaxy what
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 that means for the future of the Earth
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 the Sun and our solar system is a matter
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 of great ongoing debate the
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 gravitational tidle perations from the
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 encounter could rip our solar system
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 apart or even fling us out into
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 intergalactic IC space at this stage
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 only time will tell now looking to the
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 East and slightly south of Pegasus
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 you'll see the ancient constellation of
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 cus The Great Whale or sea monster the
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 brightest star in the constellation is
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 beta CTI or denb katos an orange giant
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 located 96 light years away the name
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 denb katos means the whale's tail
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 another one of the stars in cus is
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 mirror the first variable star ever
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 discovered Lo headed some 420 light
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 years away mirror pulsates in brightness
00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 over a period of 332 days changing in
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 diameter from around 400 to 500 times
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 the diameter of our sun also visible is
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 Alpha setti traditionally called Mena
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 the nose it's a red hued giant star some
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 220 light years away it's actually a
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 double star with a secondary 93 City
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 being a blue white star some 440 light
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 years away also in cus located some 11.9
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 light years away is the yellow dwarf
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 star TTI the nearest sunlike star to the
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 earth other than the
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 sun astronomers describe stars in terms
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 of spectral types it's a classification
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 system based on temperature and other
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 characteristics the hottest most massive
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 and most luminous stars are known as
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 spectr type O blue stars that's followed
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 by spectr type B blue white stars then
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 spectral type a white stars spectral
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 type f whitish yellow stars then come
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 spectr type G yellow stars that's where
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 our sun fits in slightly cooler A spectr
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 type K orange stars and then the coolest
00:16:38 --> 00:16:41 and least massive stars known are spectr
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 Type M red stars each spectral
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 classification can then further be
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 subdivided using a numeric digit to
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 represent temperature with zero being
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 the hottest and nine the coolest and
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 then you add a Roman numeral to
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 represent Luminosity so at the end of
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 all that our sun is classified as a g2v
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 or if you prefer G25 yellow dwarf star
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 also included in the Stellar
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 classification system a spectral types
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 LT and Y which are assigned to failed
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 Stars known as brown dwarves some of
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 which were actually born as spectr Type
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 M red stars but then became Brown
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 dwarves after losing some of their Mass
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 Brown dwarves fit in a unique category
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 between the largest planets which are
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 about 13 times the mass of Jupiter and
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 the smaller spectr type mred Stars which
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 can be 75 to 80 times the mass of
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 Jupiter or 0.08 solar
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 masses south of satus you'll find the
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 brilliant star ainar which means the
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 river's end and it marks the end of the
00:17:40 --> 00:17:44 river aridness ainar is a binary system
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 comprising Alpha idy which is the
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 brightest star of point of light in and
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 lying at the southern tip of the
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 constellation of aridus the two
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 components of Alpha ridney and
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 designated Alpha ridney a and Alpha
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 ridney B and they're located about 139
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 light years away way of the 10 apparent
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 brightest stars in our night sky Alpha
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 ridney is the hottest and bluest in
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 color that's due to aenar being a spectr
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 type B main sequence star akar also has
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 an unusually rapid rotational velocity
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 causing it to be quite oblad in shape
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 the second star in the system is a
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 smaller spectr type a white star and
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 orbits the primary star at a distance of
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 around 12 astronomical units follow
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 eridanus towards the east and you'll see
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 the Magnificent const St ation Orion the
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 hunter a familiar signpost for southern
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 summer Skies to the west of Orion is the
00:18:35 --> 00:18:37 constellation tourist the bull and
00:18:38 --> 00:18:42 located in tourus is M1 The Crab Nebula
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 it's the remnant of a star which Chinese
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 astronomers saw explode as a supernova
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 on July the 4th in the year
00:18:49 --> 00:18:51 1054 they recorded the sudden appearance
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 of a new star on their Sky charts at the
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 exact position of the Crab Nebula the
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 Supernova appeared brighter than the
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 planet Venus for weeks on end before
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 finally fading completely from view
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 after almost 2 years The Crab Nebula is
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 located some 7 light years away it's
00:19:10 --> 00:19:13 expanding at a rate of over 5 million km
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 per hour at the heart of the nebula is a
00:19:16 --> 00:19:18 rapidly spinning neutron star or Pulsar
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 rotating some 30 times every second it's
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 emitting radiation in all wavelengths
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 from gamma rays and x-rays through
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 ultraviolet Optical and infrared and on
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 into radio waves observations indicate
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 the pulse's spin rate is slowing down
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 and it will fall to just half its
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 current rotational rate in the next
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 Thousand
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 Years November is also a great time to
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 check out the ples or seven sisters one
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 of the nearest and most spectacular open
00:19:46 --> 00:19:50 star clusters to Earth also known as
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 M45 the ples are located in the
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 constellation Taurus now depending on
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 Whose measurements you prefer the ples
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 are located somewhere between 118 and
00:20:00 --> 00:20:04 137 PEX away a parek being 3.26 light
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 years the ples are composed of mostly
00:20:07 --> 00:20:10 hot blue white stars amazingly different
00:20:10 --> 00:20:12 cultures in vastly different parts of
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 the world all describe the ples as Seven
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 Sisters or seven women possibly some
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 sort of ancient throwback to very early
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 human
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 civilization just like October November
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 also sees three meteor showers there's
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 the November orionids as well as the
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 toids and the leonids although peaking
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 in late October the orionids continue to
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 sprinkle down during the start in
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 November and are usually at their best
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 in the we small hours before Dawn
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 they're generated by the debris Trail
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 left behind by the Comet Halley and
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 appear to radiate out from the direction
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 of the constellation of Ryan the hunter
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 hence their name the toids are generated
00:20:53 --> 00:20:55 by the comet anky and as their name
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 suggests they appear to radiate out from
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 the constellation tourus the ball now
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 anky and the TDS are believed to be the
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 remnants of a much larger Comet which
00:21:04 --> 00:21:06 disintegrated sometime in the past
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 20 to 30 years breaking into
00:21:09 --> 00:21:12 several pieces and releasing material by
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 normal cometry activity and maybe
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 occasionally through close encounters
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 with the gravitational tidal force of
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 the earth and other planets in fact the
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 cometary stream of material from the TDs
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 is the largest in the inner solar system
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 and being so spread out the Earth takes
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 several weeks to pass through it all
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 that means there's an extended period of
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 meteor activity compared to the much
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 smaller periods of activity for other
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 meteor showers interactions with the
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 Giant gas planet Jupiter have also
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 caused the tets to be segmented into
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 separate northern and southern streams
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 the southern toids usually last from
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 around September the 25th to around
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 November the 25th while the northern
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 toids go from October the 12th to around
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 December the 2nd the TDS are usually
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 quite diffuse only producing about about
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 7 meteors hour however they're composed
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 of far more massive material think of
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 Pebbles instead of dust grains and so
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 they tend to produce a high percentage
00:22:07 --> 00:22:09 of very bright meteors known as
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 Fireballs produced by the larger
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 meteoroids burning through the
00:22:13 --> 00:22:15 atmosphere the southern tours should be
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 putting on their best show just after
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 midnight around now the third meteor
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 shower in November are the Leonards
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 which pick around November the 18th they
00:22:25 --> 00:22:27 usually produce around 15 metors an hour
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 but have been known to occasionally
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 produce some spectacular meteor storms
00:22:32 --> 00:22:36 with showers in 1999 2001 and 2002
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 producing around 3 Leonid meteors
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 per hour but one of the best had over
00:22:41 --> 00:22:44 been the leonids meteor show of
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 1966 which generated well literally
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 thousands of meteors per minute falling
00:22:49 --> 00:22:52 like illuminated rain the Leonards are
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 usually picked up after midnight with
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 Peaks occurring Just Before Dawn
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 produced by debris from the comet Temple
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 Tuttle the leonids radiate out from the
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 constellation Leo the Lion and they're a
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 fast moving stream encountering the path
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 of the Earth at 72
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 km/s larg Leonards which are about 10 mm
00:23:10 --> 00:23:13 across can have a mass of half a gram
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 and are known to generate really bright
00:23:15 --> 00:23:17 meteors it's been calculated that the
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 annual Leonard's meteor shower can
00:23:19 --> 00:23:22 deposit 12 to 13 tons of particles
00:23:22 --> 00:23:25 across the planet Jonathan n from sky
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 and Telescope magazine joins us now for
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 the rest of our tour of the November
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 night skies good day Stuart well where I
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 live we're heading towards Summer I live
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 in the southern hemisphere of course so
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 summer's coming up the weather's
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 becoming much nicer the evenings are
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 becoming warmer only problem is that for
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 many of us including myself we got
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 Daylight Saving to contain with so you
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 got to wait later in the evening before
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 the sky to get dark but now win some you
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 lose some after the sun has set we have
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 a short window to get our last glimpses
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 for the year of the mighty constellation
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 Scorpi and Sagittarius the front half of
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 a scorpion has already disappeared below
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 the Western Horizon after Sunset but the
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 tail end with the sting is still poking
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 upwards into disguise you can still see
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 that if you're looking for the Southern
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 Cross you won't have much luck during
00:24:05 --> 00:24:07 the pre midnight hours during November
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 at this time of year it's upside down
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 and either very low on the southern
00:24:10 --> 00:24:13 horizon or below the Horizon depending
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 on which city you're living and how fast
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 South you are but if you're up and about
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 in the hours before Dawn you will be
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 able to see it it'll be lying on its
00:24:20 --> 00:24:22 left hand side sort of low in the
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 Southeast so it looks like a pight shape
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 and it's quite small the Southern Cross
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 is actually the smallest constellation
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 so don't go out expect you see something
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 really big if you hold your hand out at
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 arms length you can cover it up it's the
00:24:31 --> 00:24:34 smallest cellation now if you have
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 really dark skies if you're somewhere
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 where you don't have much life pollution
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 you might be able to make out a dark
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 patch in the Milky Way right next to the
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 cell cross this is called the coal shack
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 that's its nickname the coal sack it's a
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 huge region of interstellar gas and dust
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 that's out there in space and it's
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52 blocking out the stars of the Milky Way
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 behind it originally people thought you
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 know this might be a hole in the Milky
00:24:56 --> 00:24:58 Way and we're looking straight through
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 the other side but then they realize no
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 it's just a big Dark Cloud in the
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03 foreground basically with the ly way
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 behind it there are some stars in front
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 of the the call set so it's not
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09 completely black but you do need some
00:25:09 --> 00:25:11 Dark Skies country Skies or just away
00:25:11 --> 00:25:13 from light pollution in order to see
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 that in the early mornings you're still
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 out there looking for the Southern Cross
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 you should also be able to see two
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 Bright Stars down near the southern
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 Horizon these are known as the two
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 pointers or the pointers because if you
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 draw an imaginary line between them and
00:25:23 --> 00:25:25 then keep that line going for a short
00:25:25 --> 00:25:28 distance it points more or less to
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 towards with shov cross one of those two
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 stars is the famous Alpha and it's
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 actually a triple star system and the
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 closest star system to our solar system
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38 it's only just over four light years
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 away Alpha sentor is a actually a double
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 star there two two stars going around
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 each other very close and the third star
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 in this overall triple system is very
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 very small very faint you can't see it
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 with a naked eye you need a telescope
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 and you need to know exactly where to
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 see it but it actually is the co system
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 start to Earth up in the sun it's called
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 Proxima Cent or now in the evening if
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 you look in the Southeast you'll see a
00:26:02 --> 00:26:04 very bright star this is kopus the
00:26:04 --> 00:26:06 brightest star in the constellation Kina
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 and in fact the second brightest star in
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 the night sky in color it is essentially
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 white although some people myself
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 included think it has a slightly
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 yellowish tinge that's combination of um
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 eyesight and it I think it does it's not
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 it's not purely white and also very
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 often when you're looking at it it's
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 down towards the horizon so you're
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 getting a bit of atmospheric MK in the
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 way so that tends to change its color a
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 little bit too canopus is about 310
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 light years from Earth which is not very
00:26:31 --> 00:26:33 far in space terms and like many stars
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 kopus is huge it's really big it's not
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 the biggest but it's big it's about 70
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 times get this it's about 70 times wider
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 than our sun and it's more than 10
00:26:44 --> 00:26:46 times brighter and the only reason it's
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 not as bright as the sun in our night
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 sky is because it's 310 light years away
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 if it was much closer it would be just
00:26:53 --> 00:26:56 dazzling now higher up above kopus you
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 see another bright SP quite high up in
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 fact it's called acona and it's the
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 brightest star in the constellation of
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 eridanus a constellation most people
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 have never heard of it's constellation
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 of the river and this is the ninth
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 brightest star in all of the night sky
00:27:09 --> 00:27:11 and one of its claims to fame you can't
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 see this but the stist have work it out
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 is that it's spinning so rapidly on its
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 axis is that that its equator is sort of
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 bulging out and the poles are flattened
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 it's not a sphere like most other stars
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 but it's become oblate sort of flattened
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 so yeah stretched out around its equator
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 and and sort of squashed at the PO CU
00:27:28 --> 00:27:30 it's spinning really fast now as the
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 evening is progressing and we get
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 towards midnight you'll see that the
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 other half of the Milky wave is rising
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 in the East because the beginning of the
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 evening the the first half of the mky
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 way if you want to call it is right on
00:27:41 --> 00:27:43 the western Horizon and it goes down
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 very quickly but late in the evening
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 towards midnight you see the other half
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 M way coming up in the East and it's
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 bringing with it some of the best spars
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 and constellations for us in the
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 southern hemisphere we know this is the
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 sign that summer is approaching for our
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 friends in the northern hemisphere they
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 know it's the sign that winter is
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 approaching so first loow down in the
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 East there's Sirius and this is the
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 brightest star in the constellation
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 canist major or the greater dog and
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 Sirius is the brightest star in the
00:28:07 --> 00:28:09 night sky around to its left a bit is
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11 the Fantastic constellation of Orion
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 there it's many amazing sites you've got
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 these two Bright Stars called ryel and
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 Beetle Juice we've got three little
00:28:17 --> 00:28:20 stars in a row that form the the belt of
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 Orion Orion stands for the hunter so
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 this is the Hunter's belt and then
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 hanging down from the belt are a couple
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 of other stars and a fuzzy patch well
00:28:29 --> 00:28:32 that is an enormous star forming region
00:28:32 --> 00:28:34 1500 light years from Earth and it's
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 just amazing that we can see these
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 things just with the uned eye it really
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 really is it might not look impressive
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 but when you think about what it is and
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 what they just seen it's it's really
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 quite remarkable so that's around to the
00:28:47 --> 00:28:49 left of Syria so if you keep going
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 further around the left around to the
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 north you get to the constellation
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 Taurus which is pretty easy to make out
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 because it has a wedge shaped group of
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 stars St
00:28:58 --> 00:29:00 called the hi 8es and there's a bright
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02 red star there called
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 aldeon not far from the high 8es and
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 aldeon is another easily seen group of
00:29:08 --> 00:29:10 star called the pleades or the Seven
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 Sisters now if you get a pair of
00:29:11 --> 00:29:13 binoculars onto this one you will gasp
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 in wonder I assure you because it looks
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 really pretty through a pair of anoc you
00:29:17 --> 00:29:19 don't even need a telescope Seven
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 Sisters is it name because most people
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 with average eyesight can make out seven
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 of the Stars actually hundreds and
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 hundreds of stars in the star cluster
00:29:26 --> 00:29:29 but um most them are quite faint but if
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 you get a pair of binoculars on it
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 you'll see many more than you can with a
00:29:32 --> 00:29:35 naked eye it really looks lovely now
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 let's look at the planet Mercury is
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 actually readily visible all this month
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41 which is not common very often Mercury's
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 very low on the horizon and only for a
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 week or two and you don't really get to
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 see it but this month fortunately we're
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 going to see it quite easily you'll find
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 it above the Western Horizon after the
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 sun has set so where the sun goes down
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 once it's gone down below the Horizon
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 and the star are starting to get B dark
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 even in the Twilight in fact you'll see
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 what looks like a small bright star and
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 that's Mercury but it is of course a
00:30:03 --> 00:30:07 planet it's should be quite easy to spot
00:30:07 --> 00:30:09 higher up sort of straight up from that
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 from Mercury is a much brighter light
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 and that's Venus and you just simply
00:30:13 --> 00:30:15 can't miss Venus it's so bright it's
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 actually brighter than those two Bright
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 Stars I mentioned earlier Sirius and
00:30:19 --> 00:30:22 canopus now Saturn is almost overhead
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 for people like me who live at mids
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 Southern latitudes it looks like a
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 medium brightness star in inverted and
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 it's got a yellowish tinge and because
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 it's so far away in space it doesn't
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 appear to move much from night tonight
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 in fact you w't you really won't see any
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 movement night tonight because it's
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 going so slowly through the night sky
00:30:38 --> 00:30:39 and unlike Mercury which you should
00:30:39 --> 00:30:41 notice has changed position as each
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 night rolls around you'll see Mercury
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 from night tonight Mercury will change
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 position a bit got a bit higher and then
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 the M of the month it'll get a bit lower
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 but Saturn it uh it's basically going to
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 stay in the one spot and move with the
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 Stars as as the Earth rotates now if we
00:30:55 --> 00:30:58 out stargazing after midnight and we
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 small hours maybe you're finishing a
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 night shift or something or you're
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 coming home from a party you'll find
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 Jupiter big and bright not far from that
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 star Al Deon I mentioned earlier
00:31:06 --> 00:31:09 actually so Al de Al Deon looks red and
00:31:09 --> 00:31:12 Jupiter's basically big bright and white
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 and this will be uh just above the
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 northeastern Horizon in the the early
00:31:15 --> 00:31:18 hours of the morning Mars will be there
00:31:18 --> 00:31:20 too above the northeastern Horizon but
00:31:20 --> 00:31:22 not until after about 2:30 when it rises
00:31:22 --> 00:31:27 above the um rises above the The Horizon
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 so if you're up around that time uh you
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 should be able to spot Mars it's got a
00:31:30 --> 00:31:33 distinct Ruddy color a sort of a reddish
00:31:33 --> 00:31:35 Ruddy sort of color even a bit orangey
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 which makes it quite easy to identify
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 and it's it's quite a lot dimmer than
00:31:39 --> 00:31:41 Jupiter well they're separated quite a
00:31:41 --> 00:31:43 lot in this in the sky in terms of the
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 angle between them as we're looking at
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 them but uh you should be able to spot
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 the two of them together Jupiter big and
00:31:48 --> 00:31:52 bright and Mars lower down ready sort of
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54 color and a little bit dimmer and that's
00:31:54 --> 00:31:56 Stuart is the sty for November that's
00:31:56 --> 00:31:58 Jonathan Nelly from from sky and
00:31:58 --> 00:32:03 Telescope magazine and this is
00:32:03 --> 00:32:16 [Music]
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 spacetime and that's the show for now
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