1 00:00:02,302 --> 00:00:23,123 DEAN: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS. 2 00:00:23,223 --> 00:00:25,892 I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. 3 00:00:25,992 --> 00:00:30,163 JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, 4 00:00:30,263 --> 00:00:31,398 FLORIDA. 5 00:00:31,498 --> 00:00:34,467 WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY. 6 00:00:34,567 --> 00:00:37,070 IT'S EMBARRASSING TO ADMIT, BUT DEAN AND I HAVE FAVORITE STARS. 7 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:38,171 DEAN: WHO'S EMBARRASSED? 8 00:00:38,271 --> 00:00:40,173 IT'S TRUE! 9 00:00:40,273 --> 00:00:44,444 NOW, YOU MAY THINK WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE STARS TOO LONG, BUT SOME STARS JUST HAVE CHARACTER. 10 00:00:44,544 --> 00:00:48,882 JAMES: STARS VARY IN BRIGHTNESS, SIZE, DISTANCE, AND ESPECIALLY COLOR. 11 00:00:48,982 --> 00:00:52,352 DEAN: WHEN WE THINK OF STARS, WE IMMEDIATELY THINK THEY'RE ALL WHITE. 12 00:00:52,452 --> 00:00:53,887 NOT SO. 13 00:00:53,987 --> 00:00:56,956 STARS COME IN ALL COLORS OF THE RAINBOW, FROM RUBY RED TO TANGERINE 14 00:00:57,057 --> 00:00:59,492 JAMES: FROM PLATINUM-BLONDE TO DEEP BLUE. 15 00:00:59,592 --> 00:01:03,963 DEAN: AND THESE DISTINCT COLORS THAT YOU CAN SEE WITH THE NAKED EYE TELL US A LOT. 16 00:01:04,064 --> 00:01:05,698 HERE, LET'S SHOW YOU 17 00:01:05,799 --> 00:01:10,770 JAMES: WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET FOR ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK AFTER SUNSET FACING SOUTHWEST. 18 00:01:10,870 --> 00:01:15,075 THERE YOU'LL FIND THE CONSTELLATION ORION THE HUNTER WITH HIS DISTINCTIVE BELT OF THREE 19 00:01:15,175 --> 00:01:16,776 STARS. 20 00:01:16,876 --> 00:01:19,646 IF YOU LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER YOU'LL SEE STARS OF DIFFERENT BRIGHTNESS AND COLOR. 21 00:01:19,746 --> 00:01:24,884 DEAN: STAR COLOR IS AN INDICATION OF ITS TEMPERATURE - BLUE STARS BEING THE HOTTEST AND RED STARS 22 00:01:24,984 --> 00:01:26,486 BEING THE COLDEST. 23 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:30,423 YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE COLORS OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS LIKE THOSE IN ORION. 24 00:01:30,523 --> 00:01:34,861 MOST OF HIS STARS ARE BLUE - LIKE THE BELT STARS ALNITAK, ALNILAM, AND MINTAKA. 25 00:01:34,961 --> 00:01:38,665 JAMES: AND ORIONS LEFT FOOT, THE STAR RIGEL IS BLUE TOO. 26 00:01:38,765 --> 00:01:43,369 DEAN: BUT MY FAVORITE BLUE STAR IS IN ORION'S SHOULDER - CALLED BELLATRIX. 27 00:01:43,470 --> 00:01:45,805 BELLATRIX IS ONE OF THE HOTTEST STARS AT OVER 38,000 DEGREES. 28 00:01:45,905 --> 00:01:51,511 THROUGH A TELESCOPE, BELLATRIX IS THE DEEPEST BLUE I HAVE EVER SEEN. 29 00:01:51,611 --> 00:01:55,515 WHENEVER I SHOW THIS STAR TO VISITORS AT THE OBSERVATORY, THEY BECOME MESMERIZED. 30 00:01:55,615 --> 00:01:58,551 JAMES: BELLATRIX HAS A MYSTERIOUS HISTORY. 31 00:01:58,651 --> 00:02:01,588 ITS NAME MEANS "BEAUTIFUL AMAZON-WOMAN-STAR." 32 00:02:01,688 --> 00:02:05,658 THE STAR'S INFLUENCE WAS SAID TO PRODUCE STRONG QUALITIES IN WOMEN, AND RENDERED THOSE BORN 33 00:02:05,758 --> 00:02:07,927 UNDER IT LUCKY AND LOQUACIOUS. 34 00:02:08,027 --> 00:02:10,864 HOWEVER, LITTLE ELSE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THIS NAME. 35 00:02:10,964 --> 00:02:16,302 DEAN: BUT WHAT IS SUCH A FEMININE STAR DOING IN ORION, THE BIGGEST, BADDEST MACHO MAN IN 36 00:02:16,402 --> 00:02:17,937 THE SKY? 37 00:02:18,037 --> 00:02:21,541 AS TOUGH AS ORION IS, I GUESS HE'S STILL IN TOUCH WITH HIS FEMININE SIDE. 38 00:02:21,641 --> 00:02:25,178 DEAN: MARKING ORION'S OTHER SHOULDER IS THE STAR BETELGEUSE. 39 00:02:25,278 --> 00:02:30,583 ACTUALLY, IN MOST LEGENDS, ORION HAS HIS RIGHT ARM RAISED, HOLDING A CLUB, AND BETELGEUSE 40 00:02:30,683 --> 00:02:33,386 MARKS HIS, UH, UNDERARM. 41 00:02:33,486 --> 00:02:37,924 BETELGEUSE ROUGHLY TRANSLATES FROM ANCIENT ARABIC AS ARMPIT OF THE GIANT. 42 00:02:38,024 --> 00:02:42,762 JAMES: NOT ONLY DOES THIS STAR HAVE A COLORFUL NAME, BUT IT ALSO SHINES WITH A BEAUTIFUL 43 00:02:42,862 --> 00:02:44,564 RED GLOW. 44 00:02:44,664 --> 00:02:49,169 THIS COLOR GIVES US A HINT TO ITS TEMPERATURE - ABOUT 5,800 DEGREES ON ITS SURFACE. 45 00:02:49,269 --> 00:02:51,104 MUCH COLDER THAN BLUE BELLATRIX. 46 00:02:51,204 --> 00:02:56,176 DEAN: THE NATIVE AMERICANS OF THE AMAZON RIVER VALLEY LINK THESE TWO, BELLATRIX AND BETELGEUSE, 47 00:02:56,276 --> 00:02:58,077 IN A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY. 48 00:02:58,178 --> 00:03:03,516 THEY PICTURE BELLATRIX AS A YOUNG BOY SWIFTLY PADDLING HIS CANOE, WHILE OLD MAN BETELGEUSE 49 00:03:03,616 --> 00:03:05,385 IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP. 50 00:03:05,485 --> 00:03:09,856 JAMES: BUT THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE NIGHT SKY IS THE DOG STAR, SIRIUS, OVER TO THE LEFT 51 00:03:09,956 --> 00:03:11,691 OF ORION. 52 00:03:11,791 --> 00:03:16,729 SIRIUS BLAZES WITH A STARK WHITE LIGHT IN THE SOUTH, AND A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 17,000 53 00:03:16,829 --> 00:03:18,698 DEGREES. 54 00:03:18,798 --> 00:03:23,336 DEAN: SIRIUS IS A TINY STAR COMPARED TO BLUE BELLATRIX, AND IS ALMOST NOTHING NEXT TO BEHEMOTH 55 00:03:23,436 --> 00:03:25,205 BETELGEUSE. 56 00:03:25,305 --> 00:03:30,610 THE ONLY REASON SIRIUS IS SO BRIGHT IS BECAUSE ITS SO MUCH CLOSER TO US - ONLY 8.6 LIGHT 57 00:03:30,710 --> 00:03:32,345 YEARS AWAY. 58 00:03:32,445 --> 00:03:37,517 COMPARED TO OVER 240 LIGHT YEARS TO BELLATRIX AND 640 LIGHT YEARS TO BETELGEUSE. 59 00:03:37,617 --> 00:03:42,021 JAMES: CAPELLA IS A BRIGHT STAR REALLY HIGH IN THE WESTERN SKY THIS EVENING. 60 00:03:42,121 --> 00:03:46,025 CAPELLA IS SIMILAR TO OUR SUN IN TEMPERATURE - AND SO IT SHOULD LOOK ABOUT THE SAME COLOR 61 00:03:46,125 --> 00:03:47,527 - YELLOWISH-WHITE. 62 00:03:47,627 --> 00:03:49,229 BUT CAPELLA IS MUCH LARGER. 63 00:03:49,329 --> 00:03:53,833 DEAN: PLUS THERES NOT JUST ONE STAR THERE, BUT FOUR STARS ORBITING EACH OTHER! 64 00:03:53,933 --> 00:03:59,072 IMAGINE ALL THE SUNSETS AND SUNRISES YOU COULD SEE FROM A PLANET IN A SYSTEM WITH FOUR SUNS! 65 00:03:59,172 --> 00:04:02,809 JAMES: LIKE CAPELLA, OUR SUN FALLS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TEMPERATURE SPECTRUM. 66 00:04:02,909 --> 00:04:06,779 WITH A SURFACE TEMPERATURE OF ROUGHLY 10,000 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, THE SUN BATHES US IN THE 67 00:04:06,879 --> 00:04:08,781 YELLOW-WHITE LIGHT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE. 68 00:04:08,881 --> 00:04:12,619 DEAN: I KNOW THAT DIMMER STARS ALL APPEAR WHITE TO OUR EYES. 69 00:04:12,719 --> 00:04:16,956 BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THESE SAME STARS THROUGH BINOCULARS OR A TELESCOPE, YOU'LL SEE THEIR 70 00:04:17,056 --> 00:04:18,825 INDIVIDUAL COLORS MORE DISTINCTLY. 71 00:04:18,925 --> 00:04:23,396 JAMES: FROM RED TO BLUE, THE HUES ARE SUBTLE, BUT ONCE YOU TRAIN YOUR EYE TO SEARCH OUT 72 00:04:23,496 --> 00:04:27,233 THESE VARIATIONS OF COLOR, YOU MAY DISCOVER THAT YOU HAVE FAVORITE STARS TOO. 73 00:04:27,333 --> 00:04:31,333 BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!