S27E108: NASA's Asteroid Deflection, Lunar Gateway Milestones, and Blue Origin's Latest Success

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 108 for broadcast on the 6th of September 2024.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Coming up on SpaceTime, how NASA changed an asteroid's orbit, construction continues

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: on the new Lunar Gateway space station, and success for Blue Origins' 8th space tourism

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_00]: mission.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: All that and more coming up on SpaceTime.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to SpaceTime with Stuart Gary.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_00]: A new study has confirmed that NASA's DART impact emission permanently changed the orbit

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and shape of the asteroid Dimorphos.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: A report in the Planetary Science Journal shows that when NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Test or DART spacecraft collided with Dimorphos in 2022, the tiny moon was significantly deformed,

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: creating a large crater and reshaping it so dramatically that the moon derailed from its

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: original evolutionary progression.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The study's authors believe that Dimorphos may now start to tumble chaotically as it

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: attempts to move back into gravitational equilibrium with its parent asteroid Didymos.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: The study's lead author, Derek Richardson from the University of Maryland, says that

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: for the most part, the original pre-impact predictions of how DART would change the way

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Didymos and its moon move in space were correct.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: But there were some unexpected findings that are now helping to provide a better picture

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: of how asteroids and other small bodies form and evolve over time.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the biggest surprises was how much the impact of DART changed the shape of Dimorphos.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: According to Richardson, the asteroid moon was originally oblate in shape, sort of like

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: a hamburger, but it became more prolate, stretched out like a football, following the DART spacecraft

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: impact.

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Scientists were expecting Dimorphos to be prolate pre-impact simply because that's generally

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: how they believe the central body of the moon would gradually accumulate material that

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: had been shut off by a primary body like Didymos.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: It would naturally tend to form an elongated body that would always point its long axis

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: towards the main body.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: But these results contradict that and indicate that something more complex is at work.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Furthermore, the impact-induced change in Dimorphos' shape likely also changed how

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: it interacts with Didymos.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Richardson noted that although DART only hit the moon, Dimorphos and Didymos are connected

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: through gravity.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The debris scattered by the spacecraft on impact also played a role in the distributed

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: equilibrium between the moon and its asteroid, shortening Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Interestingly, Didymos' shape has remained the same, a finding that indicates that the

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: larger asteroid's body is firm and rigid enough to maintain its form even after losing

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: mass to create its moon.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: According to Richardson, Dimorphos' changes have important implications for future exploration

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: efforts, including the European Space Agency's follow-up HERA mission to the Dimorphos system

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_00]: which is slated to launch next month.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Originally, Dimorphos was probably in a very relaxed state, with one side permanently pointing

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_00]: towards Didymos, just like the Earth's moon always has the same face pointing towards

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: our planet.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But now it's been knocked out of alignment, which means that it may be wobbling back and

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: forth in its orientation.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Dimorphos may be tumbling, meaning the DART spacecraft may have caused it to

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: rotate chaotically and unpredictably.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The authors are now waiting to find out when the ejected debris will clear from the system,

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: whether Dimorphos is still tumbling in space, and when it will eventually regain its previous

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: stability.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the biggest questions now is if Dimorphos is stable enough for a spacecraft to land

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: on it and install research equipment.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It could take 100 years to see a noticeable change in the system, but of course it's only

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: been a few years since the impact.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Learning how long it takes Dimorphos to regain stability will tell astronomers important

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: things about its internal structure, which in turn will inform future attempts to deflect

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: hazardous asteroids.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: By late 2026, HERA will arrive at the binary asteroid system containing Dimorphos and Didymos.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll assess the internal properties of both asteroids for the first time, providing a

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: more detailed analysis of the DART mission and its implications for the future.

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Richardson says DART gave science an insight into complicated gravitational physics that

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: you simply can't do in a lab.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And all of this research is helping astronomers calibrate future efforts to defend the Earth

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: in the event of an actual asteroid threat.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You see, like it or not, the bottom line is that there is a non-zero chance of an asteroid

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: or comet hitting the Earth one day.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a question of if, it's a question of when and how bad that will be.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Space Time.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Still to come, construction continues on the new Lunar Gateway Space Station and success

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: for Blue Origin's eighth space tourism mission.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: All that and more still to come on Space Time.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Humanity's first lunar space station is continuing to take shape with the assembly

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and testing now underway of its core elements, the Power and Propulsion Element Module and

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the Habitation and Logistics Outpost Module.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: The Lunar Gateway Space Station will eventually be assembled in orbit around the Moon and

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: serve as a jumping-off point for excursions down to the lunar surface.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll serve as a science laboratory, a habitation module and a communication hub for astronauts

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: as part of the Artemis program.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Gateway will be deployed into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: A Lagrangian L1 position where the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Moon cancel each

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: other out.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The eccentricity of this orbit takes the station to within 1,500 km of the lunar North Pole

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: surface at its closest approach and as far away as 70,000 km over the lunar South Pole

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: every seven Earth days.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Gateway will be the first modular space station to be both human-rated and autonomously operated

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_00]: for most of the time, especially during its early years, as well as being the first deep

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: space station far from low Earth orbit.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Gateway will centre around its Power and Propulsion Element, or PPE, module, which will include

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: solar arrays that generate power for the station and both chemical and ion-electric propulsion

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: systems.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, the PPE will use the largest roll-out solar arrays ever built, together about the

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: size of a football field end zone.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The module itself is now being built by Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California under

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: supervision of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, Thales Alenia Space has been tasked with the job of building the hull for the Habitation

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: and Logistics Outpost Module.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Final welding tasks and crucial stress testing has now been completed at its plant in Italy.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: The Habitation and Logistics Outpost Module, or HALO, will now travel to Gilbert, Arizona

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_00]: where Northrop Grumman will complete the final fit-out.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It will then be launched into lunar orbit with Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, Thales Alenia Space has now started preliminary work on Gateway's Lunar International

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Habitat Module, on which it is the primary contractor for the European Space Agency.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: In addition to the PPE, HALO and the Lunar International Habitat Module, two more modules,

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: one from ESA and one from MBR Space in the United Arab Emirates are now under construction

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and will constitute the core modules of the new space station.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile the Canadian Space Agency is building a new robotic arm for the station, the Canadarm3

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: and numerous scientific instruments.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: International teams of astronauts will expand Gateway with additional living and working

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: modules.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: These will include the 4-ton ESPRITE module.

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: ESPRITE stands for European System Providing Refueling Infrastructure and Telecommunications.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_00]: As the name suggests, it will provide additional Xeon and Hydrazine fuel capacity, additional

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_00]: communications equipment and an airlock for science packages.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Then there's the US Utilization Module, a small pressurized space that would enable

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: crews to board the space station on the very first mission to Gateway for the assembly

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: sequence.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: It will initially store additional food and will be launched alongside ESPRITE.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Next comes the Gateway Logistics Modules.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: They'll be used to refuel, resupply and provide logistics onboard the space station,

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and it'll be equipped with a Canadian-built robotic arm.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Finally there'll be the Gateway Airlock Module.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll be used to perform extra-vehicular activities outside the space station and to

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_00]: berth deep space transports.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_00]: A number of lunar landing vehicles will also call Gateway home.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_00]: These will shuttle between the orbiting outpost and the lunar surface, carrying crew and supplies.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_00]: This is space time.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Still to come, success for Blue Origin's 8th space tourism mission and the September

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Equinox.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The powerful Cygnus X-1 X-ray source and the Epsilon Perseids and Origins meteor showers

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: are among the highlights of the September night skies on Skywatch.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Blue Origin has successfully flown another six space tourists into the ultimate frontier.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Mission NS26 marked the eighth human spaceflight for the company and its new Shepard rocket,

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_00]: transporting people above the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary marking

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_00]: the edge of space, 328,000 feet or 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_00]: The launch from the company's West Texas complex went smoothly, with main engine cutoff

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and stage separation both occurring on time.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_04]: All right, main engine cutoff and separation have been confirmed.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_04]: This is when our astronauts are feeling zero G.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Dr. Rob Furl is going to start his experiments up there in the cabin.

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Hopefully after a little time to look out the window.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I would totally steal at least a couple of looks out of those big gorgeous windows.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_04]: The speed is reducing when it hits zero.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_04]: That is when we've hit apogee.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_04]: At this point, we are well over the Karman line, about 328,000 feet or 100 kilometers up.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The passenger capsule then continued climbing, eventually reaching an

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: apogee of over 342,000 feet. That's more than 104 kilometers above the ground.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_00]: As the spaceship soared beyond the Karman line, passengers could see the curvature of the Earth

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and the thin blue line of the planet's life-giving atmosphere below the velvet blackness of space.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: They also had a few minutes to experience weightlessness,

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: allowing them to float around the cabin before the capsule began its return to Earth.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Now they're unbuckled at the moment. They're turning their somersaults. They are soaking it in.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_04]: They are, you know, we're witnessing six people having their minds blown right now as we speak.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Meanwhile, the booster was already on its descent back to the planet's surface,

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_00]: initiating a landing burn and briefly hovering over the landing pad before finally touching down.

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_04]: But the booster is heading on down and it will beat the capsule back to Earth. The booster,

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_04]: of course, has a controlled landing on a landing pad just two miles north of where it's taken off

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_04]: from. The capsule, less aerodynamically shaped, will land second under three parachutes in our

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_04]: landing zone in our valley in West Texas. So far, a nominal flight of our 26th mission

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_04]: to space and back of the New Shepard vehicle. All six astronauts are back in their seat and

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_03]: the booster is screaming on home. Yeah, as we mentioned, that booster is going to return to

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Earth a lot faster than the capsule because of the aerodynamic nature of the crew capsule.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_03]: We see the drag brakes have been deployed. There's the relight of that BE-3 engine.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_03]: That gorgeous hover above the landing pad. And booster touchdown, a successful touchdown of

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_03]: the booster for the NS-26 mission. Always a sight to see. Always a sight to see. I mean,

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_04]: it's been going thousands of miles per hour and then it comes in landing. You see it just kind

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_04]: of hovers there at five miles an hour. It's such a smooth descent and landing. As a reminder to

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_04]: people, this is so critical to the reusability because the smoother the landing, the less you

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_04]: jostle the rocket, the less you have to refurbish the rocket, the more uses you can get out of the

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_03]: rocket. Absolutely. And some really cool things here, right? Like those fins you were talking

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_03]: about earlier, our lessons learned with guiding this vehicle back are going to be applied to

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_03]: our next big vehicle, New Glenn. So again, just so many lessons learned from this booster

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_04]: every single mission. Every single mission. Now the crew capsule is obviously also coming back

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_00]: down to land here. As the passenger capsule began its own return to Earth, it descended rapidly

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: until drogue chutes released, followed by three blue and orange mains parachutes, which brought

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_00]: the spacecraft to a soft landing in the Texas desert just three kilometers from the launch pad.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: We are going to have first the drogue parachutes that come out. Those are kind of like the guide

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_04]: parachutes. Then we're going to see the mains. They will wreath. So they're going to kind of

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_04]: go out just a little bit and then they fully inflate and talk about cutting speed. And again,

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_03]: these parachutes, both the drogues and the mains are essential in providing a gentle touchdown for

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_03]: the capsule. But as we get closer to the ground here, you're going to see a retro thrust system

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_03]: on the base of the capsule, which does kick up a bit of West Texas dust, but it makes for an even

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_03]: smoother touchdown. Then again, you know, like you said, the already slow speed that the capsule is

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_03]: descending at now. We're just 400 feet away from touchdown and crew capsule touchdown. Welcome home

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_03]: to the newest six astronauts, the Blue Steel Team. Once more, what appears to be a completely smooth

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_03]: flight for New Shepard, our booster touching down at the landing pad in a soft landing for

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_00]: our latest crew. The total mission flight time was 11 minutes. Blue Origin doesn't disclose the

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_00]: cost of its tickets to space, but prices are believed to be around a quarter of a million

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: dollars per seat. Although we're told William Shatner, aka Captain James Kirk from the Starship

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Enterprise, got to travel for free. Blue Origins main competitor in the suborbital space tourism

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_00]: market, Virgin Galactic is currently on a two year hiatus as they prepare their next generation of

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_00]: space planes for service. This is Space Time. And time now to turn our eyes to the skies and check out the night skies for September on Skywatch.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: September was the seventh month of the year in the old Roman calendar, which had just 10 months.

[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_00]: That's before the addition of January and February. That 10-month year is still reflected today in the

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_00]: names September or Septum being Latin for seven, October or Octo meaning eight, November and Novem nine, and December or Deci meaning ten.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_00]: It really wasn't until the Gregorian calendar that January the 1st marked the start of the New Year,

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_00]: but in the beginning it was mostly only Catholic countries that adopted it. Protestant nations only

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: gradually moved across, with the British for example not adopting the reformed calendar until 1752.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Prior to that date, the British Empire and its American colonies still celebrated the New Year

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_00]: on March the 25th, marking the Feast of the Annunciation and Easter. The earliest recordings

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: of a New Year celebration are believed to have taken place in Mesopotamia around 2000 BCE,

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_00]: around the time of the northern hemisphere vernal equinox in mid-March. A variety of other dates tied

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_00]: to the seasons are also used by various ancient cultures. The Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_00]: began their New Year off with the fall equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_00]: While the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, the festival of trumpets, occurs in September,

[00:17:41] [SPEAKER_00]: where it marks the beginning of the northern hemisphere's cycle of sowing, growth and harvest,

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and apparently the creation of Adam and Eve according to the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: The September equinox will take place at 1043 on the evening of Sunday, September 22nd

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Australian Eastern Standard Time. That's 843 in the morning US Eastern Daylight Time and 1243

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_00]: in the afternoon Greenwich Mean Time. The day marks the point in Earth's orbit around the Sun

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_00]: when the planet's rotational axial tilt means the Sun will appear to rise exactly due east

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: to someone standing on the equator. It means almost equal hours of darkness and light. In fact,

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_00]: the word equinox is derived from the Latin meaning equinus or equal and nox meaning night.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: It all comes about because Earth's rotational axis is tilted at an angle of around 23.4 degrees

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_00]: in relation to the ecliptic, the plane created by Earth's orbit around the Sun. And Earth's axial

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_00]: tilt is pointed in the same direction in the sky regardless of Earth's orbital position around the

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Sun. So on other days of the year, either the northern or southern hemisphere are tilted more

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_00]: towards the Sun. But on the two equinoxes, around March 21st and September 23rd, the tilt of Earth's

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_00]: axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun's rays. For those in the northern hemisphere, it means the

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_00]: start of fall or autumn, while those of us south of the equator are moving into spring.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Now it's also worth noting that on geological time scales, the solstices and equinoxes change

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_00]: because of a process called precession, which causes Earth's spinning axis to wobble like the

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_00]: axle of a spinning top. The rate of precession is only about half a degree per century, so people

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_00]: don't notice it on human time scales. But because the direction of Earth's axis of rotation determines

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_00]: at which point in Earth's orbit the seasons occur, precession will cause a particular season to

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00]: occur at a slightly different time from year to year over a 21,000-year cycle. Of course as well

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_00]: as precession, the Earth's orbit itself is also subjected to small changes called perturbations.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_00]: That's because Earth's orbit's an ellipse, and so there's a slow change in its orientation,

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_00]: which gradually shifts the point of perihelion, Earth's closest orbital position to the Sun.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Now these two effects, the precession of the axis of rotation and the change in the orbit's

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: orientation, work together to shift the seasons with respect to perihelion. And because we use

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: a calendar year that's aligned to the occurrence of the seasons, the date of perihelion will

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_00]: gradually regress through this 21,000-year cycle, unless we compensate for it. Okay, let's start

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_00]: the tour of the September night skies by looking towards the east and the constellation of

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Capricornus the goat. The name comes from the ancient Greek tale about the demon Typhon emerging

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_00]: from a fissure in the Earth and attacking Zeus, the king of gods, during a banquet. The sudden

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_00]: appearance of Typhon scared Pan, the flute-playing goat boy, who tried to escape by turning into a

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_00]: fish and swimming away. However, he realized his cowardice before completing the transformation

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and so distracted the demon by playing his flute instead. And this gave Zeus enough time to use

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: a thunderbolt from the heavens to frighten Typhon away. Because of his actions, both cowardly and

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_00]: brave, Zeus placed Pan in the sky forevermore, still in his half-goat, half-fish guise.

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The brightest star in Capricornus is Delta Capricorni, also known as Denebel Jeti or the

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: tail of the goat. It's an ear neighbor, located just 39 light-years away. A light-year is about

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: 10 trillion kilometers. The distance a photon can travel in a year at the speed of light,

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_00]: which is about 300,000 kilometers per second in a vacuum and the ultimate speed limit across

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: the universe. Denebel Jeti is a spectral type A white beta lyra variable eclipsing binary.

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_00]: It's comprised of two stars closely orbiting each other. Now, astronomers describe stars in terms of

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: spectral types, a classification system based on temperature and characteristics. The hottest,

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_00]: most massive and most luminous stars are known as spectral type O blue stars. They're followed by

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_00]: spectral type B blue white stars, then spectral type A white stars, spectral type F whitish yellow

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: stars, spectral type G yellow stars. That's where our sun fits in. Then there's spectral type K

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_00]: orange stars and the coolest and least massive stars are known as spectral type M red dwarf stars.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Each spectral classification can also be subdivided using a numeric digit to represent temperature,

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: with zero being the hottest and nine the coolest, and a roman numeral to represent luminosity.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Now put all that together and our sun is officially classified as a spectral type G2V

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_00]: or G25 yellow dwarf star. Also included in this stellar classification system are spectral types

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_00]: LT and Y, which were assigned to failed stars known as brown dwarfs, some of which were born

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: as spectral type M red dwarf stars but became brown dwarfs after losing some of their mass.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Brown dwarfs fit into a category between the largest planets, which are about 13 times the

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_00]: mass of Jupiter, and the smallest spectral type M red dwarf stars, which are usually about 75 to

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_00]: 80 times the mass of Jupiter or about 0.08 solar masses. As we mentioned earlier, Denebel Jedi is

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: a beta lyra variable eclipsing binary system. It's made up of two stars closely orbiting each other.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The total brightness of the system changes because the two component stars periodically

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: pass in front of each other as seen from Earth, thereby blocking out the light from the other

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: star in the system. The two component stars of beta lyra systems are usually massive giants or

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: supergiants so close to each other that their shapes are heavily distorted by their mutual

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: gravitational forces. This gives each of the stars in the system an ellipsoidal shape with extensive

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: mass flows from one component to the other. Just below Capricornus on the eastern horizon,

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_00]: you'll see the constellation Aquarius, the water carrier to the gods.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Greek mythology describes Aquarius as the most beautiful looking boy that ever lived,

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and so was carried from Earth up to Mount Olympus by Zeus in the guise of Aquila the

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Eagle to become the water carrier. The two brightest stars in Aquarius are Alpha and

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Beta Aquarii, a pair of luminous yellow supergiants that were once spectrotype B blue-white stars.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_00]: The pair are moving through space perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way galaxy.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Beta Aquarii, the brightest of the pair, is also known as Cedars-Sud. It's a multiple star system

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: located about 540 light years away. The primary star is about six times the mass of the Sun but

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: emits roughly 2,300 times the Sun's luminosity, implying a radius at least 50 times that of our

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Sun. Beta Aquarii appears to have at least two faint companion stars, but you'll need a decent

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_00]: sized telescope to see them. The second brightest star in Aquarius is Alpha Aquarii, also known as

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Cedar-Millic. It's about 520 light years away, around six and a half times as massive as the Sun

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and some 3,000 times as luminous. Next we move to the southern constellation of Pisces

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Astrinus, the Southern Fish. The brightest star in the constellation is Fomalhaut,

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_00]: the mouth of the Southern Fish and the 18th brightest star in the night sky.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Interestingly, thousands of years ago it was used to mark the position of the winter solstice,

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_00]: the Sun's most southerly position as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. But the precession of

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_00]: equinoxes which we talked about earlier has now moved the northern winter solstice to its new

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: position in December. Located only 25 light years away, Fomalhaut is a spectral type A white-yellow

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: star, about twice the mass of the Sun and around 16 times as luminous. It's also a really young

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_00]: star, only about 400 million years old. By comparison, our own star, the Sun, is some 4.6

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_00]: billion years of age. Fomalhaut exhibits an excess of infrared radiation, indicating that it's

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_00]: surrounded by a circumstellar disk. It's also part of a triple star system, together with a

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_00]: spectral type K orange dwarf star TW Pisces Astrini and a spectral type M red dwarf star LP876-10.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Turning to the north now, there you'll see the constellation Pegasus,

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_00]: the winged horse of Greek mythology. Pegasus is the one who delivered Medusa's head to Polydectes,

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_00]: after which he travelled to Mount Olympus in order to become the bearer of thunder and

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_00]: lightning bolts for Zeus. The brightest star in Pegasus is the orange supergiant

[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Epsilon Pegasi, which marks the horse's muzzle. Almost 12 times the mass of the Sun,

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: it's a bloated outdoor spectral type K supergiant nearing the end of its life.

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Astronomers are still debating as to whether it will end its days as a core-collapsed supernova

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_00]: or a rare neon oxygen white dwarf. Also in the north is the constellation Cygnus the Swan,

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_00]: which lies on the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Cygnus contains the star Deneb, one of the brightest

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: stars in the night sky and one of the corners of the summer triangle. It's also home to the

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Cygnus OB2 stellar association, which includes one of the largest known stars in the universe,

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: MNL Cygni, a red hypergiant about 1,183 times the radius and 50 times the mass of our Sun.

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, were it placed at the center of our solar system where the Sun is, its surface would extend

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_00]: out beyond the orbit of Jupiter. It's so big it contains a volume approximately 1.6 billion times

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that of the Sun. NML Cygni is located about 5,300 light years away. Now Cygnus is also home

[00:27:57] [SPEAKER_00]: to Cygnus X1, a powerful galactic x-ray source which became the first widely accepted black hole.

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_00]: It was discovered back in 1964 and even today remains one of the most studied astronomical

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_00]: objects in the sky. The black hole is estimated to have about 14.8 times the mass of our Sun,

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_00]: all crammed into an event horizon with a radius of just 44 kilometers.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Little wonder black holes are the densest objects in the universe.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Located just above the northern horizon this time of the year is the star Vega. It's the brightest

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_00]: star in the constellation Lyra and the fifth brightest star in the night sky. Vega has about

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_00]: twice the mass of our Sun, and it's a relatively young star less than 500 million years old,

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's also fairly close, just 25 light years away. Now once again due to the precession of

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Earth's rotational axis, Vega used to be the northern pole star around 14,000 years ago,

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and it will do so again in another 12,000 years time. Just above Vega is Alpha Aquilae or Altair,

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: the brightest star in the constellation Aquila. It's a spectral type A white-yellow star with

[00:29:10] [SPEAKER_00]: twice the mass of our Sun. Altair is located really nearby, just 16.7 light years away,

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and it rotates very rapidly with an equatorial velocity of about 286 kilometers per second,

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's a significant fraction of the star's estimated breakup speed of around 400 kilometers

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_00]: per second. Now this high rotation rate means Altair isn't spherical but highly flattened at

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the poles. Altair is the eye of the eagle that carried Aquarius up to Mount Olympus to become

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: the water bearer for the gods. Looking to the southeast now, and you'll see the bright star

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Achenar. It's the brightest star of the constellation Eridanus the River. Located

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_00]: around 140 light years away, Achenar has seven times the mass and 3,000 times the luminosity

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: of our Sun. The star rotates so rapidly it's elliptical in shape with its equatorial diameter

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_00]: being about 56 percent wider than its polar diameter. September also sees the bulk of the

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Origids meteor shower, which is produced as the Earth passes through the debris trail

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_00]: left by the comet Kess C1911N1. Kess is a long period comet, only reaching the inner

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_00]: solar system every 1,800 to 2,000 years. Its meteor shower runs between August the 28th and

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00]: September the 5th. The Origids provide up to five swift and bright meteors an hour, with its peak

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_00]: just before dawn on September the 1st. It's best viewed from the northern hemisphere as its radiant

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00]: that is the direction the meteors appear to be coming from lies in the northern sky constellation

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: of central Origia. A second meteor shower in the month of September is the Epsilon Perseids, which

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: run from September the 5th to the 21st. Although they're called the Epsilon Perseids, the radiant

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: lies closer to the star Beta Perseus or Algol. The Epsilon Perseids should not be confused with last

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: month's Perseids meteor shower. That's because while both appear to have their radiant in the

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_00]: constellation Perseus, they're caused by debris trails from two very different comets.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And now with more on the September night skies we're joined by Jonathan Nally from Sky & Telescope

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Magazine. G'day Stuart, well yes September is a good time of year actually for stargazing,

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_01]: particularly for where I live south of the equator in Australia because we've got some

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_01]: really good constellations to see down here this time of year. We've got sort of a winter

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_01]: constellation still up nice and high during the evening time but when the morning hours come

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_01]: around we've got the summer constellations, the southern summer constellations starting to make

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_01]: their appearance in the morning sky. So in the mid-evening we've got the Milky Way, of course

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_01]: that's our home galaxy seen from the inside, and it's stretching right across the sky from north

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_01]: to south. You can't miss it if you've got dark enough skies. If you're in the city like where

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I live in the city you just can't see it, you don't even notice it because there's so much

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_01]: light pollution. But if you can get away from the lights a bit, somewhere dark and you'll see the

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Milky Way galaxy seen from the inside, it's just magnificent, it's beautiful. So for us down here

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_01]: we've got the centre of the galaxy and the star fields of Scorpius and Sagittarius are more or

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_01]: less directly overhead from the sort of mid-southern latitudes around 30-40 degrees south.

[00:32:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And this region is really great to view with a small telescope or binoculars but do try and get

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_01]: away from sources of light pollution. Don't go and stand outside or underneath a street light or

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_01]: something like that and do give your eyes time to get back at it too. Even if you do live in a dark

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_01]: spot or you're visiting a dark spot or whatever, if you've been inside with the lights on when you

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_01]: go outside, better lay your eyes at least 20 minutes or so at least to get back adapted to be able to

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_00]: see the faint stuff. And put some red cellophane on your torch or something like that if you're

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_01]: going to use it to read anything. Yeah try and avoid a torch but if you or flashlight as the

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Americans would call them. But if you do have to use one then try and dim it down if you can or put

[00:32:49] [SPEAKER_01]: something red over it too. Actually orange apparently is meant to be better than red.

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh that's what we use on aircraft yeah when I was flying all the controls at night were in orange.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Amber yes, even some of the sort of computerised telescope controls you can get these days but

[00:33:05] [SPEAKER_01]: they've got a more of an amber-y sort of tinge to them than what you would call bright red. But

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_01]: anyhow yeah look if you're going to go outside let your eyes get back adapted and try not to

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_01]: use a torch if you can. But if you have to just very very briefly and don't shine it directly in

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_01]: your eyes. But look you can spend hours and hours out there just sweeping back and forth through

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Scorpius and Sagittarius, this sort of central part of our Milky Way. There's so much to see

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_01]: endless lists of famous deep sky objects like Lagoon Nebula, the Triffid Nebula, the Eagle Nebula

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_01]: that sort of thing is just stacked with it. Way down to the south from where I am you've got the

[00:33:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Southern Cross it's flying on its right hand side at the moment. You've got the two pointer stars

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_01]: these two bright stars above it and if you have really dark skies then you've let your eyes adapt

[00:33:44] [SPEAKER_01]: to the dark. See if you can spot a big dark patch just next to the Southern Cross which is a huge

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_01]: cloud of interstellar dust and gas floating out there in space and it's been used now called the

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Coal Sack for obvious reasons. This big dark patch in the Milky Way. It's not a hole in the Milky Way

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_01]: it's just a big blob of gas and dust blocking the stars from behind it. It's actually really nice and

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_01]: while we're still in the area of the cross, the left hand star of the cross is sort of kite-shaped.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_01]: The left hand star of the kite shape at the moment that's the one that's uppermost in the sky.

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a little cluster of stars just beside it that's called the Jewel Box cluster, the jewel.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_01]: A small telescope or even pair of binoculars will show it really well. It's very pretty. It's got a

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_01]: variety of different colored stars in it. Now as the night goes on the Earth's turning, the stars

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_01]: are going down in the west and they're coming up in the east and the eastern part of the sky

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_01]: actually seem a bit bare through the latter part of the evening right through to about 1am, 2am or so

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_01]: but then you've got the mighty constellation of Orion, the hunter coming up above the horizon.

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So for astronomers in the southern hemisphere this means that the summer is on its way. For our

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_01]: friends in the northern part of the planet means that winter is on its way. So Orion is spoken many

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_01]: times about Orion. It's just so easy to see, so easy to spot with its trio of stars making up the

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: hunter's belt and you've got the blue star Rigel on one side of the belt. You've got the red star

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Betelgeuse on the other side of the belt. They're quite bright those two stars. Nearby to Orion,

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_01]: right next door basically, you've got the constellation Corus which has a very noticeable

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and easy to spot wedge-shaped cluster of stars called a Hyades and it's got a bright red star

[00:35:14] [SPEAKER_01]: called Aldebaran. I'll come back to that in a sec because we're just going to talk about the planets

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_01]: now. So let's look at where the planets are. What we can see in the early morning hours, we've got

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Jupiter which is rising in the east around about 1.30am or so at the start of the month and it's

[00:35:28] [SPEAKER_01]: followed about 45 minutes later by Mars. Now the two of them together are going to be a really,

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_01]: really good sight. Probably about, I think it's about eight degrees apart. The moon is about

[00:35:37] [SPEAKER_01]: half a degree wide so eight degrees apart is about 16 moon widths apart. But you should notice them

[00:35:43] [SPEAKER_01]: because they're both quite bright but one interesting thing to do will be to compare Mars

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and two of those stars I just mentioned, Betelgeuse and Aldebaran because all three of them are in the

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_01]: same part of the sky at the moment and all three of them are red and Aldebaran and Mars are pretty

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: close to the same brightness but Betelgeuse is a little bit brighter. So they're going to form a

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: triangle, see if you can spot them, Betelgeuse and Aldebaran on the stars and Mars the planet. You'll

[00:36:06] [SPEAKER_01]: be able to work out which one's Mars because as from night to night you'll see that it would have

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_01]: moved a little bit in the sky or will appear at least to have moved a little bit in the sky as our

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_01]: line of sight is changing as both it and the Earth are travelling around the Sun. So that's in the

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_01]: morning hours after 1.30am, 2.30am, 3 o'clock, that kind of thing if you're up late or you're getting

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_01]: up early. In the evening sky we've got two bright planets that are easy to see after sunset. The first

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_01]: is Venus which is visible above the western horizon after the Sun's gone down. You cannot miss it,

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_01]: you simply cannot miss Venus because other than the Moon it's the brightest thing you're going

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_01]: to see in that part of the sky. And it's not a flying saucer? No it's not a flying saucer. You know people

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_01]: sometimes they look up and see this bright thing in the sky and think that wasn't there last night,

[00:36:46] [SPEAKER_01]: what's that bright light? Fact is it was there last night, you just didn't notice it or it's behind

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_01]: a cloud or whatever, it had already gone down by the time you went out to have a look. But it's

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_00]: going to hang around for quite a while. It's amazing how often they tell you that it's not Venus,

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_00]: no this was different to Venus and then you ask them, well so you saw Venus next to it did you?

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And then this is long pause. Yeah yeah or when you show them the evidence that it actually was Venus

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_01]: it's disappointing. People want to see things in the night sky, they get a bit annoyed when the

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_01]: explanation is prosaic. Anyhow so speaking bright you'll be able to see actually Venus and the Moon

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_01]: close together they're only about one and a half degrees apart, that's about six million

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_01]: widths. So that'll be really nice to see. Now the other star of the show this month is Saturn and

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_01]: it probably really is the star of the show because Saturn is reaching opposition on the night of

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_01]: September the 7th or the 8th depending which time zone you're in. Now opposition is when a planet

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and the Sun are in opposite directions as seen here on Earth. So this means that when the planet

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_01]: is rising in the east as the Earth's turning, the Sun is setting in the west. So they're 180 degrees

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: apart you know so that's opposition, they're opposite each other. The good thing about this

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_01]: is that it gives you all night to have a look at the planet because you know sometimes if you have

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_01]: a planet like I mentioned before you know so Jupiter is rising at 1 30 a.m so you've got to

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_01]: get up early and go out and have a look at it and you've only got it until sunrise so you know

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_01]: looking five six hours or something like that. Whereas when a planet is at opposition it's

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_01]: coming up just as the Sun is setting so you've got all night to go out there and have a look at it

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and the best time to see a planet is when it's up nice and high, when it's highest in the sky

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_01]: because then you're looking through the least amount of Earth's atmosphere just to get it

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_01]: because the Earth's atmosphere makes things flicker and wobble and then might have dust or smoke in

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_01]: the way or anything those sorts of things. So you want to get the planet up nice and high. So

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_01]: opposition great time to see any of the outer planets in this case it is Saturn and you'll find

[00:38:39] [SPEAKER_01]: it really easily just go out after sunset look to the east and you can't miss it it's fairly bright

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and it has a yellowish tinge and if you have a small telescope or you know someone's got a small

[00:38:49] [SPEAKER_01]: telescope get it out and have a look because you will be able to see Saturn's rings which look

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_01]: really quite amazing even through just a small telescope. And that Stuart is the night sky for

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_00]: September. That's Jonathan Nelly from Sky and Telescope magazine and this is Space Time and

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_00]: that's the show for now. Space Time is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple

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