web
follow the arc to Artur this and hit a
spike
to spike hey there sorry gazers and in
re guess astronomer for the Cincinnati
Observatory
and I'm James Aubrey director the key
cassava pop planetarium in Gainesville
Florida
we're gonna do a little star hopping
this week and discover new stars
and constellations are jumping off point
will be the Big Dipper
the Big Dipper the most recognizable
star pattern visible most to the year
will be your guide to the heavens
first it all points to the North Star
then shows the way to the bright orange
star
terrace then lead us to the brilliant
blue star spike a
ever will even be a planted along the
way lets show
okay we have our April skies set up to
10 p.m. facing north East
where we see the Big Dipper high above
the North Star
its couples for water it be pouring
right internal dipper
and overflowing onto the ground ball up
if we shoot an arrow through the two
stars on the end of the big dippers Cup
and continue that line in a run smack
dab into the North Star
now let's use the big dippers handle to
find two more wonderful stars
and a planet simply draw an imaginary
line through the handle the Big Dipper
an extended out along the curve or arc
and your
arc your way to the bright star Park
Terrace so in other words repeat after
me
follow the arc to work towards follow
the actor terrace
pay it's pretty catchy thanks just a
little something I came up with are
tourists is the brightest star in the
constellation below tease the herds
his outline looks more like a narrow
kite or an ice cream cone on its side
without doing that scooping ice cream is
falling on your after you
art Park Terrace keep going straighten
out the arc a bit
and to the right you run into the bright
blue star called spike a
spike is the brightest star in the
constellation Virgo the maiden
she's standing operate and covers most
to the eastern sky
their catchy saying to find spike a of
course
first we follow the arc torturous her
then hit a spike
to spike Wow at a lot less catchy
yeah I now but maybe it's so bad you
remember anyway
let's compare arc tourists and Spike it
to
our star the Sun arc turns is relatively
close to us
only 37% light years away Spyker
is about seven times farther around 261
like yours
the Sun on the other hand is only eight
light minutes away
now what size these three stars up
the Sun is about eight hundred
sixty-five thousand miles in diameter
that's large enough for 109 hurts to
struct
and and across its with but that's
nothing compared to spike
which is over seven times wider than our
Sun and our terrace
which is over 25 times wider this
artwork Torres and Spike to spike a
trick works
every spring but this year we have
something extra
you're probably wondering about that
extra point light above spike
it's really bright and a little red so
let's follow the arc torturous spike to
Spyker
and then motor up to mars %ah
the red planet you probably noticed mars
in the evening sky
rising in the east after sunset not only
does it have a distinctive color
but it doesn't went well as much as the
stars do earlier this month marshals
that its closest point to the year
but now the earth stone leaving mars
behind you know mars is almost 60
million miles away
you'll still be able see it in the
evening skies for the restive 2014
since mars a planet it wanders around
the background stars
it just happens to be in the right place
this year to crash are
arc to work tourists and Spike to spike
a party n
adds a little extra spice your evening
star gazing
cell this spring get outside and let the
Big Dipper be your guide
the two stars on the end of the spoon
will take you to the North Star
and the curve stars in the handle will
let you art tartar us
hit a spike to Spyker and motor up to
mars
and as you spin around the galaxy this
week remember to
heat look enough
Duke E
T