1 00:00:20,420 --> 00:00:25,658 JAMES: HEY THERE STAR GAZERS. 2 00:00:25,759 --> 00:00:29,396 I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 3 00:00:29,496 --> 00:00:32,832 DEAN: AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. 4 00:00:32,932 --> 00:00:37,070 JAMES: IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN YOU CAN SEE ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STAR CLUSTERS, 5 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:39,539 THE PLEIADES, BETTER KNOWN AS THE SEVEN SISTERS. 6 00:00:39,639 --> 00:00:44,711 DEAN: BUT DO YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE TWO MORE STAR CLUSTERS, TWIN CLUSTERS SO TO SPEAK, 7 00:00:44,811 --> 00:00:46,713 JUST A SHORT VISUAL DISTANCE AWAY. 8 00:00:46,813 --> 00:00:50,550 JAMES: AND HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT WAS THE FARTHEST THING YOU CAN SEE WITH THE NAKED 9 00:00:50,650 --> 00:00:51,885 EYE? 10 00:00:51,985 --> 00:00:53,386 LET'S SHOW YOU: 11 00:00:53,486 --> 00:00:57,524 JAMES: O.K., WE'VE GOT OUR SKIES SET UP FOR NEXT WEEK AROUND 9 P.M. 12 00:00:57,624 --> 00:01:01,528 IF YOU LOOK ABOVE THE EASTERN HORIZON YOU WILL SEE WHAT LOOKS LIKE AN EXQUISITE TINY 13 00:01:01,628 --> 00:01:04,864 LITTLE-DIPPER-SHAPED CLUSTER OF STARS, THE SEVEN SISTERS. 14 00:01:04,964 --> 00:01:09,936 DEAN: NOW MOST PEOPLE SEE ONLY 6 STARS HERE WITH THE NAKED EYE, BUT REALLY GOOD EYES UNDER 15 00:01:10,036 --> 00:01:13,440 IDEAL CONDITIONS, CAN SEE SEVEN OR MORE. 16 00:01:13,540 --> 00:01:15,608 WITH BINOCULARS YOU CAN SEE SEVERAL DOZEN. 17 00:01:15,708 --> 00:01:21,381 THERE ARE REALLY OVER 250 STARS HERE, ALL MUCH LARGER AND HOTTER THAN OUR OWN SUN. 18 00:01:21,481 --> 00:01:26,653 JAMES: AND COSMICALLY SPEAKING, THEY'RE NOT VERY DISTANT, ONLY ABOUT 400 LIGHT YEARS AWAY 19 00:01:26,753 --> 00:01:32,725 WHICH MEANS THAT WE SEE THE PLEIADES AS THEY EXISTED 400 YEARS AGO, ABOUT THE TIME GALILEO 20 00:01:32,826 --> 00:01:34,561 FIRST TRAINED A TELESCOPE ON THEM. 21 00:01:34,661 --> 00:01:39,399 DEAN: NOW TO FIND THE TWIN CLUSTERS, LOOK DIRECTLY ABOVE THE NORTH STAR WHERE YOU WILL 22 00:01:39,499 --> 00:01:45,205 SEE 5 STARS THAT TRACE OUT THE 'M'-SHAPED CONSTELLATION OF CASSIOPEIA THE QUEEN. 23 00:01:45,305 --> 00:01:51,044 THEN TO THE RIGHT OF CASSIOPEIA YOU WILL SEE TWO FAINT FUZZY Q-TIP LIKE OBJECTS AND IF 24 00:01:51,144 --> 00:01:55,215 YOU ARE FAR AWAY FROM CITY LIGHTS WHERE IT'S GOOD AND DARK OUT YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THEY 25 00:01:55,315 --> 00:01:59,219 ARE EMBEDDED IN THE RIVER OF LIGHT WE CALL THE MILKY WAY. 26 00:01:59,319 --> 00:02:04,991 DEAN: NOW THESE TWO DIM FUZZY BALLS OF LIGHT ARE CALLED THE DOUBLE CLUSTER OF PERSEUS. 27 00:02:05,091 --> 00:02:09,762 AND ALTHOUGH EACH HAS ABOUT 100 MORE STARS THAN THE PLEIADES, THEY'RE NOT AS BRIGHT TO 28 00:02:09,863 --> 00:02:12,565 US BECAUSE THEY ARE SO MUCH FARTHER AWAY. 29 00:02:12,665 --> 00:02:19,639 IN FACT, UNLIKE THE PLEIADES' 400 LIGHT YEARS DISTANCE, THEY ARE A GRAND 7000 LIGHT YEARS 30 00:02:19,739 --> 00:02:21,508 AWAY. 31 00:02:21,608 --> 00:02:24,844 JAMES: NOW LET'S GET BACK TO MY QUESTION ABOUT THE FARTHEST THING THATS VISIBLE WITH THE 32 00:02:24,944 --> 00:02:25,845 NAKED EYE. 33 00:02:25,945 --> 00:02:28,148 LETS START WITH THE MOON. 34 00:02:28,248 --> 00:02:32,552 ITS VERY EASY TO SEE AND ITS ALMOST A QUARTER MILLION MILES AWAY. 35 00:02:32,652 --> 00:02:35,421 LET'S STEP IT UP A NOTCH AND TAKE LOOK AT VENUS. 36 00:02:35,522 --> 00:02:40,260 NEXT WEEK VENUS WILL BE ABOUT 100 MILLION MILES AWAY, STILL EASILY SEEN WITH THE NAKED 37 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:41,561 EYE. 38 00:02:41,661 --> 00:02:44,731 LET'S GO ANOTHER STEP AND LOOK AT JUPITER NEXT WEEK. 39 00:02:44,831 --> 00:02:49,469 THE KING OF THE PLANETS IS ABOUT 600 MILLION MILES AWAY AND STILL EASILY SEEN WITH THE 40 00:02:49,569 --> 00:02:51,004 UNAIDED EYE. 41 00:02:51,104 --> 00:02:54,240 DEAN: WE'RE APPROACHING THE ANSWER BUT WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO YET. 42 00:02:54,340 --> 00:02:58,244 WE CAN'T DESCRIBE HOW FAR WE CAN SEE IN TERMS OF MILES ALONE. 43 00:02:58,344 --> 00:03:04,050 WE HAVE TO SHIFT TO LIGHT YEARS WITH EACH LIGHT YEAR BEING ABOUT 6 TRILLION MILES, QUITE 44 00:03:04,150 --> 00:03:05,318 A JUMP, HUH? 45 00:03:05,418 --> 00:03:07,887 WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT JUST A FEW LIGHT YEARS EITHER. 46 00:03:07,987 --> 00:03:10,857 WE'RE TALKING ABOUT OVER TWO MILLION LIGHT YEARS. 47 00:03:10,957 --> 00:03:16,396 BUT WHAT COULD BE SO BRIGHT THAT WE CAN SEE IT WITH OUR UNAIDED EYES AT SUCH A DISTANCE? 48 00:03:16,496 --> 00:03:20,700 JAMES: TO ANSWER THAT, LET'S FIRST FIND PEGASUS THE HORSE. 49 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:27,173 IF WE DRAW LINES BETWEEN FOUR NOT-SO-BRIGHT STARS WE WOULD TRACE A GREAT CELESTIAL SQUARE. 50 00:03:27,273 --> 00:03:32,679 AND WITH A FEW OTHER STARS, AND A LITTLE IMAGINATION WE COULD CONNECT STARS TO THIS SQUARE TO MAKE 51 00:03:32,779 --> 00:03:34,113 A LONG NECK. 52 00:03:34,214 --> 00:03:36,849 THE BRIGHT STAR ENIF CAN MAKE OUR HORSE'S NOSE. 53 00:03:36,950 --> 00:03:42,255 DEAN: A FEW DIM STARS CAN FORM TWO SHORT FRONT LEGS, AND SOME OTHERS CAN STAND IN FOR TWO 54 00:03:42,355 --> 00:03:43,890 HIND LEGS. 55 00:03:43,990 --> 00:03:47,393 NOW MOST PEOPLE CALL THE HIND LEGS SOMETHING ELSE - ANDROMEDA THE PRINCESS. 56 00:03:47,493 --> 00:03:53,266 AND MAYBE THE NAME ANDROMEDA WILL GIVE YOU A GALACTIC HINT AS TO WHAT IS THE FARTHEST 57 00:03:53,366 --> 00:03:55,101 THING YOU CAN SEE WITH THE NAKED EYE. 58 00:03:55,201 --> 00:04:00,807 JAMES: IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND AND YOU MUST HAVE CLEAR, DARK, MOONLESS SKIES LIKE NEXT 59 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:02,175 WEEK. 60 00:04:02,275 --> 00:04:05,878 BUT IF YOU SQUINT, YOU MAY SEE A DIM, FUZZY PATCH OF LIGHT. 61 00:04:05,979 --> 00:04:11,618 IT IS CALLED M31, THE GREAT GALAXY OF ANDROMEDA WHICH, THROUGH A TELESCOPE, REVEALS ITSELF 62 00:04:11,718 --> 00:04:17,523 TO BE A GIGANTIC FAMILY OF A TRILLION STARS THAT'S OVER TWO AND A HALF MILLION LIGHT YEARS 63 00:04:17,624 --> 00:04:19,359 AWAY. 64 00:04:19,459 --> 00:04:23,096 DEAN: SO WE HAVE THREE STAR CLUSTERS AND ONE GALAXY THAT ARE VISIBLE IN A FAIRLY SMALL 65 00:04:23,196 --> 00:04:24,631 CHUNK OF THE NIGHT SKY NEXT WEEK. 66 00:04:24,731 --> 00:04:26,332 TO FIND THEM YOU MUST 67 00:04:26,432 --> 00:04:30,432 BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!