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.

PEOPLE OFTEN ASK US

DEAN: HEY STAR GAZERS, I WAS OUTSIDE LAST
NIGHT AND I SAW A REALLY BRIGHT STAR NEXT

TO THE MOON.

WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT THING?

JAMES: IF THE STAR WAS SO BRIGHT THAT YOU
NOTICED IT, IT PROBABLY WASNT A STAR AT ALL.

DEAN: IT MAY HAVE BEEN A PLANET.

BUT WHICH ONE?

OVER THE COURSE OF A MONTH, THE MOON CAN APPEAR
TO PASS NEAR ANY OF THE FIVE PLANETS VISIBLE

TO THE NAKED EYE.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER,
OR SATURN.

JAMES: WELL, IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE MOON
WILL VISIT THREE OF THESE PLANETS NEXT WEEK,

AND WE WANT TO GET YOU READY TO IDENTIFY THEM
ALL.

DEAN: LET'S HEAD OUT TO THE SKY AND FOLLOW
THE WANDERING MOON!

JAMES: OKAY, WE'RE GOING TO START WITH THE
NIGHT OF HALLOWEEN, OCTOBER 31ST.

LUCKILY WERE NEITHER SUPERSTITIOUS, NOR SCARED
OF THE DARK.

PLUS THE MOON IS NOT FULL THIS HALLOWEEN,
AND WAS ACTUALLY NEW ON THE NIGHT BEFORE.

DEAN: BUT WE'RE SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE
MOON'S IMPENDING APPEARANCE.

WE'RE LOOKING TO THE SOUTHWEST JUST AFTER
SUNSET, AROUND 7:30PM.

IT'S NOT COMPLETELY DARK OUTSIDE, BUT I SEE
THREE PLANETS ALREADY.

JAMES: PEOPLE ASK US ALL THE TIME HOW WE CAN
TELL PLANETS FROM STARS IN THE SKY.

IT DEFINITELY TAKES A LITTLE PRACTICE, BUT
IF YOU KEEP LOOKING UP FREQUENTLY, OVER TIME,

YOU'LL GET TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.

DEAN: ESPECIALLY IF SOMEONE CAN POINT THEM
OUT TO YOU FIRST! AND WE'LL SHOW YOU THE THREE

PLANETS FOR HALLOWEEN.

FOR NOW WE'RE GOING TO LABEL THEM 1, 2, AND
3.

JAMES: YOURE NOT GOING TO TELL THEM WHAT THEY
ARE?

DEAN: NO, NOT YET.

I WANT TO BUILD UP THE EXCITEMENT.

JAMES: AHHHH, GOOD IDEA.

DEAN: THE PLANETS ALL CIRCLE THE SUN IN A
FLAT DISC, SO THEY OFTEN LINE UP NEAR AN IMAGINARY

LINE WE CALL THE ECLIPTIC.

JAMES: BASICALLY THAT'S WHERE ECLIPSES CAN
OCCUR.

DEAN: EXACTLY, AND THAT ALSO MEANS THAT THE
SUN AND MOON CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND NEAR THIS

LINE.

JAMES: AND THE MOON, AS IT CIRCLES THE EARTH,
MUST PASS NEAR ALL OF THE PLANETS ONCE A MONTH.

DEAN: NOW WE'RE GOING TO MOVE OUR TIME FORWARD,
DAY BY DAY AND SEE WHAT CHANGES.

AT 7:30PM ON NOVEMBER 1ST, HELLO THERE, WHAT
DO YOU NOTICE?

JAMES: JUST ABOVE THE HORIZON YOU MIGHT, JUST
MIGHT SEE THE SLIMMEST CRESCENT MOON.

IT WILL BE EXTREMELY LOW IN THE SKY AND WILL
SET FAST, SO A BETTER CHANCE OF CATCHING IT

WOULD BE ON THE NEXT NIGHT, NOVEMBER 2ND.

DEAN: AS THE MOON WANDERS ALONG THE ECLIPTIC,
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S COZYING UP NEXT TO OUR

FIRST TWO PLANETS.

NOW WE CAN TELL YOU WHAT THEY ARE.

JAMES: FINALLY!

PLANET #1 IS DAZZLINGLY BRIGHT.

IT'S SUSPICIOUSLY BRIGHT!

IT IS VENUS!

VENUS IS SOMETIMES CALLED THE EVENING STAR
SINCE, AT TIMES, YOU CAN CATCH IT JUST AFTER

SUNSET.

IT'LL BE EASY TO SPOT ALL THIS MONTH.

DEAN: BUT YOU MIGHT MISS THE FAINTER PLANET
RIGHT NEXT TO IT.

THAT HARDER-TO-SEE OBJECT, PLANET #2, IS IN
REALITY, THE PLANET SATURN.

SATURN IS WAY BIGGER THAN VENUS, BUT RIGHT
NOW, IT'S WAY FARTHER AWAY.

VENUS IS ABOUT 110 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH
WHILE SATURN IS A WHOPPING 1 BILLION MILES

AWAY.

JAMES: THAT LEAVES PLANET #3 ALL BY ITSELF
WAY OVER THERE IN THE SOUTHERN SKY.

IT WONT BE LONELY FOR LONG BECAUSE AS WE MOVE
FORWARD TO THE NIGHT OF NOVEMBER 3RD

NOVEMBER 4TH

AND NOVEMBER 5TH, THE CRESCENT MOON WILL APPEAR
FULLER AND NEAR THE RED PLANET, MARS!

DEAN: THAT'S RIGHT JAMES, MARS IS STILL HANGING
AROUND IN THE SKY.

IT WAS A LOT CLOSER TO US EARLIER IN THE YEAR,
BUT NOW IT'S EVEN FARTHER THAN VENUS - AT

AROUND 116 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH.

JAMES: MARS IS NOWHERE NEAR AS BRIGHT AS VENUS
BUT IT WILL BE EASY TO SPOT FOR A FEW MONTHS

AND GLOW WITH A YELLOW, ORANGE, OR RED TINT.

DEAN: SO CHECK OUT THE SKY NEXT WEEK AND LET
THE WANDERING MOON BE YOUR GUIDE.

JAMES: IT WILL PASS BY THE PLANETS VENUS AND
SATURN, ON NOVEMBER 2ND

DEAN: AND THE RED PLANET MARS ON NOVEMBER
5TH.

JAMES: WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE YOULL FIND WHEN
YOU

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!