BRIGHTEST OF THE BRIGHT

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.

WITH SO MANY PLANETS, STARS, AND CONSTELLATIONS,
WHERE DO YOU BEGIN?

DEAN:
OUR TIP - START WITH THE REALLY BRIGHT STUFF.

WE'VE PICKED FOR YOU THE FIVE BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME
OBJECTS

THIS WINTER.

JAMES:
VISIBLE EVEN FROM URBAN LOCATIONS, THESE FIVE

CELESTIAL WONDERS ARE SURE TO CAPTURE YOUR
IMAGINATION AND JUMPSTART YOUR RELATIONSHIP

WITH THE UNIVERSE.

DEAN:
READY TO HEAD TO STARS?

LET S GO!

JAMES:
IF WE RE TALKING ABOUT BRIGHT STUFF, OF

COURSE, WE HAVE TO BEGIN WITH THE MOON -
#1 BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECT.

HOW CAN YOU
NOT BE AWED BY THE SIGHT OF A FULL MOON RISING

ABOVE THE EASTERN HORIZON?

OR A THIN, DELICATE CRESCENT CRADLING THE
DARKENED ORB AFTER SUNSET?

DEAN:
NEXT WEEK THE MOON IS BEST SEEN BEFORE SUNRISE.

IT''LL BE IN ITS WANING PHASES AND WILL SLOWLY
MOVE TOWARD

NEW MOON.

IF WE AD-VANCE TIME DAY BY DAY WE LL SEE
A THIRD QUARTER MOON ON FEBRUARY 25TH.

THAT S WHEN ONLY THE LEFT-HALF OF THE MOON
IS LIT.

JAMES:
THE MOON WILL CONTINUE ON ITS PATH AROUND

EARTH AND SHIFT EVERY DAY.

HERE IT IS ON THE MORNING OF THE 26TH, AND
27TH.

DEAN:
WHOA!

WHAT S THAT BRIGHT THING NEXT TO THE MOON
ON THE 27TH?

JAMES: IS IT A BIRD?

DEAN: IS IT A PLANE?

JAMES: IS IT A UFO?

DEAN:
NO, THAT'S THE THIRD BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECT.

BUT LET S NOT GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES.

LET S FIND THE SECOND BRIGHTEST THING FIRST.

DEAN:
NOW WE VE SHIFTED OUR VIEW TO THE SOUTHEAST

ON THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 27TH.

THE WANING MOON IS STILL NEXT TO OUR MYSTERY
OB-JECT.

JAMES:
OOH, THE MYSTERY IS KILLING ME!

BUT I SEE SOMETHING EVEN BRIGHTER LOWER IN
THE SOUTHEAST.

THAT IS THE DAZZLING PLANET VENUS.

DEAN:
VENUS IS SO INCREDIBLY BRIGHT BECAUSE THE

PLANET IS PERPETU-ALLY COVERED IN CLOUDS -
AND THESE CLOUDS REFLECT SUNLIGHT MUCH BETTER

THAN ANY OTHER PLANET.

VENUS IS OVER 100 MILLION MILES AWAY RIGHT
NOW, BUT IT S STILL WAY BRIGHTER THAN ANY

STAR OR PLANET VISI-BLE FROM EARTH.

JAMES:
THE MOON WILL GET CLOSER TO VENUS ON FEBRUARY

28TH.

AND ON MARCH 1ST THE MOON WILL BE NEXT TO
THE RINGED PLANET SATURN (WHICH DOESN T

CRACK THE TOP 5 BRIGHTEST OBJECTS, BUT IS
STILL WAY-COOL!)

DEAN:
AND THEN JUST BEFORE SUNRISE ON MARCH 2ND,

YOU CAN SEE THE TWO BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECTS
IN CONJUNCTION!

THE MOON AND VE-NUS.

SWEET!

JAMES:
NOW WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE NIGHT OF FEBRUARY

27TH TO
RE-VEAL WHAT LARGE, GASEOUS PLANET, WITH A

GREAT RED SPOT WILL BE NEXT TO THE MOON.

OOPS, DID I GIVE AWAY TOO MANY HINTS?

DEAN:
I THINK YOU MAY HAVE FIGURED OUT, THIS

THIRD-BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECT, IS THE PLANET
JUPITER.

THERE IS NO MISTAKING JUPI-TER'S STEADY, CREAM-COLORED
GLOW.

WHEN YOU POINT A TELESCOPE AT IT, JUPITER
REVEALS A HIDDEN SYSTEM OF FOUR MOONS, IO,

EUROPA, GAN-YMEDE, AND CALLISTO.

THE CLOUD BANDS AND GREAT RED SPOT CAN ALSO
BE SEEN WITH A LARGER SCOPE.

DEAN:
TO FIND #4 AND #5 ON OUR LIST, WE JUST NEED

TO FACE SOUTH ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK AT AROUND
8PM.

THAT REALLY BRIGHT AND TWINKLING STAR IS SIRIUS,
AKA THE DOG STAR.

JAMES:
SIRIUS IS SERIOUSLY BRIGHT - MAKING IT THE

FOURTH BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECT.

THE NAME SIRIUS COMES FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING
SEARING OR SCORCHING.

AND IT LIVES UP TO ITS NAME, SINCE IT'S TWICE
AS BRIGHT AS ANY OTHER STAR IN THE SKY.

DEAN:
IT S CALLED THE DOG STAR BECAUSE THE STAR

MARKS THE NOSE OF THE CONSTELLATION CANIS
MAJOR, THE BIG DOG.

JAMES:
NUMBER 5 ON OUR LIST

IS A YELLOW STAR NAMED CAPELLA.

DEAN: AAAH, CAPELLA

JAMES:
CAPELLA CAN BE FOUND ALMOST DIRECTLY OVERHEAD

ON WINTER EVENINGS.

IT'S THE PRIMARY STAR IN THE CONSTELLATION
AURIGA THE CHARIOTEER.

DEAN:
WHEN YOU OBSERVE CAPELLA, YOU RE REALLY

LOOKING AT A COM-PLEX SYSTEM OF AT LEAST FOUR
STARS ORBITING EACH OTHER IN TWO

BI-NARY PAIRS.

IMAGINE HAVING FOUR SUNS IN OUR SKY!

JAMES:
THERE YOU HAVE IT,

THE TOP FIVE BRIGHTEST NIGHTTIME OBJECTS.

THE MOON, VENUS, JUPITER, SIRIUS, AND CAPELLA.

DEAN:
WAKE UP EARLY AND FIND THE MOON, VENUS, JUPITER,

(AND SATURN, WHILE YOU RE AT IT)

JAMES:
AND THE STARS SIRIUS, AND CAPELLA AFTER SUNSET.

DEAN:
AND THEN CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO IDENTIFY

5, 10, OR 100 MORE CELESTIAL OBJECTS.

THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS THERE WHEN YOU

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!