TIME TRAVELING WITH THE BIG DIPPER
JAMES:
WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.
I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA
PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.
DEAN:
AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI
OBSERVATORY.
WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY.
THE BIG DIPPER IS ONE OF THE EASIEST STAR
PATTERNS TO FIND IN THE NIGHT SKY.
JAMES:
THE BIG DIPPER
IS IN A GREAT LOCATION FOR VIEWING THIS MONTH,
AND I ALWAYS LOVE FINDING IT.
IT MAKES ME THINK OF
THE ASTRONOMICALLY VAST DISTANCES FROM
EARTH TO STARS.
DEAN:
EXACTLY.
ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS ABOUT THE BIG DIPPER
IS THAT THE STARS ARE AT JUST THE RIGHT DISTANCE
FROM US THAT THE LIGHT WE SEE COMING
FROM THEM TAKES A LIFETIME TO GET HERE.
WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
LET'S TRAVEL THROUGH SPACE AND TIME!
DEAN:
OK, WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET FOR JUST AFTER SUNSET
NEXT WEEK,
AND IF YOU LOOK TOWARD THE NORTH YOU'LL SEE
THE SEVEN BRIGHT STARS THAT MAKE UP THE BIG
DIPPER.
WHEN YOU CONNECT THE FOUR STARS TO MAKE A
SPOON AND THE THREE OTHER STARS FOR A HANDLE,
YOU CAN EASILY IMAGINE THIS GIANT SPOON AMONG
THE STARS.
JAMES:
THE BIG DIPPER STARS ARE SO INCREDIBLY FAR
AWAY THAT WE HAVE TO MEASURE THEIR DISTANCE
WITH A SPECIAL TERM,
A MEASURE OF DISTANCE THAT WE CALL A LIGHT
YEAR.
JAMES:
A LIGHT YEAR IS SIMPLY HOW FAR LIGHT TRAVELS
IN ONE YEAR, WHICH IS A DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY
SIX TRILLION MILES;
WHICH FURTHER MEANS THAT IF THERE WAS A STAR
SIX TRILLION MILES AWAY FROM US,
WE WOULD BE LOOKING AT THE STAR NOT AS IT
EXISTS NOW,
BUT AS IT EXISTED ONE YEAR AGO.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK INTO SPACE, YOU RE ALSO
LOOKING BACK IN TIME.
DEAN:
WHOA, THAT S DEEP MAN.
SO, WHEN WE SEE THE STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER
WE CAN DO SOME TIME TRAVELING.
DEAN:
TAKE THE DIMMEST STAR IN THE BIG DIPPER, NAMED
MEGREZ FOR EXAMPLE.
MEGREZ IS 58
LIGHT-YEARS AWAY;
WHICH MEANS THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT MEGREZ,
WE SEE IT AS IT ACTUALLY EXITED 58 YEARS AGO
-
IN 1960.
THAT WAS THE YEAR
DAVID DUCHOVNY (AGENT MULDER FROM THE TV SHOW
X-FILES) WAS BORN.
JAMES:
ALIOTH, THE FIRST STAR IN THE HANDLE OF THE
BIG DIPPER AND PHECDA,
A STAR AT THE BASE OF THE SPOON ARE BOTH ABOUT
83 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT ALIOTH AND PHECDA TONIGHT,
WE SEE THE LIGHT THAT LEFT THOSE STARS IN
1935, THREE YEARS BEFORE OUR FAVORITE STAR
GAZER, JACK
HORKHEIMER
WAS BORN.
DEAN:
MIZAR, THE STAR AT
THE BEND OF THE BIG DIPPER S HANDLE IS
78 LIGHT YEARS AWAY;
WHICH MEANS THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT MIZAR,
WE SEE IT AS IT ACTUALLY EXISTED 78 YEARS
AGO,
IN 1940 - THE SAME YEAR THAT PATRICK STEWART
(STAR TREK CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD) WAS BORN.
JAMES:
INDEED, AND THAT'S NOT ALL.
THE LAST STAR IN THE HANDLE, ALKAID IS SO
FAR AWAY, THAT THE LIGHT THAT LEFT IT BEGAN
ITS JOURNEY 104 YEARS AGO IN
1914, THE SAME YEAR THE PANAMA CANAL OPENED.
DEAN:
THE LAST TWO STARS ARE THE POINTER STARS,
MERAK AND DUBHE.
IF YOU CONNECT A LINE FROM MERAK TO DUBHE
AND KEEP GOING, IT WILL POINT YOU TO THE
NORTH STAR.
MERAK IS 80 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH, BUT DUBHE,
THE ONE CLOSER TO THE NORTH STAR IS A WHOPPING
123 LIGHT YEARS FROM US.
JAMES:
YEP!
THE LIGHT YOU SEE FROM DUBHE LEFT IT IN 1895.
AND WHAT HAPPENED
IN 1895 YOU MIGHT ASK?
KATHARINE LEE BATES WROTE THE SONG, AMERICA
THE BEAUTIFUL
DEAN:
LOOKING AT THE STARS OF THE BIG DIPPER CAN
REALLY MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A TIME TRAVELER.
SO IN 2053,
WE'LL GET TO SEE THE LIGHT THAT LEFT MIZAR
THE YEAR I WAS BORN.
AND BY MY CALCULATIONS JAMES, YOU'LL BE
WHAT
86 THAT YEAR?
JAMES:
YEP!
I'LL BE GETTING READY FOR HALLEY'S COMET TO
RETURN
IN ABOUT 8 MORE YEARS.
DEAN:
YEAH
THE YEAR 2061 WILL BE HERE IN NO TIME - COSMICALLY
SPEAKING!
JAMES:
SO, NEXT TIME YOU LOOK UP AT THE BIG DIPPER
REMIND YOURSELF, IF YOU'RE STILL YOUNG, THAT
SOME DAY YOU WILL SEE THESE STARS AS THEY
ACTUALLY
EXISTED WHEN YOU FIRST APPEARED ON THIS PLANET.
DEAN:
AND IF YOU'RE NOT SO YOUNG, DELIGHT IN THE
THOUGHT THAT YOU ARE LOOKING BACK AT SOME
OF THE FEW THINGS THAT APPEAR EXACTLY AS THEY
WERE IN THOSE
SUNLIT DAYS AND STAR-FILLED NIGHTS OF YOUTH.
JAMES:
HAPPY STAR GAZING
DEAN:
AND
HAPPY TIME TRAVELING!
BOTH:
KEEP LOOKING UP!