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