WEBVTT 00:00:07.229 --> 00:00:10.269 Howdy Star Gazers and welcome to this episode 00:00:10.269 --> 00:00:13.970 of Star Trails. Drew here, and I'll be your guide 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:16.789 to the night sky for the week starting July the 00:00:16.789 --> 00:00:21.010 20th through the 26th. This week we welcome one 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:24.550 of the best windows all month for deep sky observing, 00:00:24.850 --> 00:00:28.339 thanks to a moonless sky midweek. I'll offer 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:32.299 up an insane challenge to spot Pluto, and that's 00:00:32.299 --> 00:00:36.060 no joke. And later in the show, we examine mysterious 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:40.020 signals from space that defy explanation. Whether 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:42.460 you're tuning in from the backyard, the balcony, 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:45.240 or just your imagination, I'm glad you're here. 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:48.880 So find a cozy spot, let your eyes adjust, and 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.439 let's see what the sky holds for us this week. 00:00:52.649 --> 00:00:55.729 We start the week with a waning crescent moon, 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:59.969 just about 23 % illuminated tonight. And it's 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:03.609 not just hanging around, it's making moves. Over 00:01:03.609 --> 00:01:06.090 the next couple of mornings, the crescent moon 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:09.790 continues eastward and pulls up alongside Venus 00:01:09.790 --> 00:01:14.069 and Jupiter in the pre -dawn sky. Mark your calendar 00:01:14.069 --> 00:01:17.569 for the mornings of Monday and Tuesday. The moon 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:21.390 will appear near Venus first, then Jupiter, low 00:01:21.390 --> 00:01:24.950 on the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise. 00:01:25.790 --> 00:01:28.629 It's an easy pairing to spot, and makes for an 00:01:28.629 --> 00:01:31.590 amazing photo -op if you can get some trees or 00:01:31.590 --> 00:01:35.329 skyline in the frame. On Wednesday, we hit the 00:01:35.329 --> 00:01:39.010 new moon, which means dark skies all night long 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:42.069 for the second half of the week, and a perfect 00:01:42.069 --> 00:01:45.900 window for deep sky observation. By Saturday, 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.540 a thin waxing crescent will reappear in the evening 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:53.299 sky near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:57.219 Our planetary lineup this week is for the early 00:01:57.219 --> 00:02:01.599 risers and night owls. Venus is blazing away 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:04.760 in the east just before dawn. It's your easiest 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:08.199 target, bright, unmistakable, and a great way 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:12.060 to get others interested in sky watching. Jupiter 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:14.840 is right there with it, rising a bit higher and 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.219 earlier each day. The two will be fairly close 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:21.060 in the sky this week, with the moon sliding past 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:25.360 them on the 21st and 22nd. Saturn rises later, 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.319 around midnight, and is best viewed in the pre 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:32.319 -dawn hours low in the south. Mars is visible 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.159 in the west after sunset. It's not as bright 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.099 as the morning show, but still worth a look as 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:42.629 it moves from Leo into Virgo. And if you're really 00:02:42.629 --> 00:02:46.050 feeling adventurous, here's a challenge. Pluto 00:02:46.050 --> 00:02:50.569 reaches opposition on July 25th. That means it's 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:54.330 as close and bright as it gets, and naturally 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:57.110 you're going to need a substantial telescope, 00:02:57.610 --> 00:03:00.949 a good star chart, and maybe a camera to even 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:04.370 catch the dimmest glimpse of it. Here's how you 00:03:04.370 --> 00:03:07.500 can spot it. First, know that even though Pluto 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:13.159 is at opposition, it's at magnitude 14 .3, which 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:17.219 means it's 10 ,000 times dimmer than the faintest 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:20.780 thing your eye can see. Obviously, you'll need 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:24.360 the darkest skies you can find, preferably Bortle 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:28.900 3 or less, and a telescope of 10 inches or larger 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:33.520 to even detect Pluto as a dim dot. Use a 12 to 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:38.060 16 inch scope if you can. Remember, Pluto doesn't 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:41.539 stand out visually. It just looks like any other 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:44.960 faint star. Tracking its motion over several 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.979 nights is often how observers confirm they found 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:51.039 it, as it shifts slightly against the background 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.560 stars. This is exactly how it was discovered 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.979 back in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh and his team. 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:02.219 Even in the highest powered scopes on the planet, 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:06.039 Pluto appears as a faint star -like point. It 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:10.259 has no visible disk and shows no details. You're 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:13.400 seeing an icy dwarf planet as a speck of light 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:18.100 about 3 billion miles away. Getting eyes on Pluto 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:21.180 is beyond the means of most backyard astronomers 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:24.819 and casual observers, but if you know an advanced 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.839 astronomer or are a member of a club with great 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.839 equipment, it would be an amazing feat to see 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.339 it with your own eyes. Going deeper into the 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:37.360 night sky, the middle to end of the week is a 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.720 prime time to scan the summer Milky Way, especially 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.100 the rich fields around Scorpius and Sagittarius. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.920 rising in the southeast after dark. Try your 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:52.319 hand at the Lagoon Nebula M8 or the Trithid Nebula 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:57.240 M20 in Sagittarius. Both are binocular visible 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:02.240 under dark skies. In Cygnus near Deneb, the North 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.879 America Nebula NGC 7000 is a great target for 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.620 wide field scopes or long exposure astrophotography. 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:15.009 And speaking of Deneb, that star forms one corner 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:19.029 of the summer triangle, along with Vega and Altair. 00:05:19.689 --> 00:05:23.490 By 10pm, it's high in the eastern sky and a great 00:05:23.490 --> 00:05:27.389 landmark for stargazing. Now, closer to home, 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:31.329 the Delta Aquarid meteor shower is active right 00:05:31.329 --> 00:05:35.300 now, ramping up toward its late July peak. You 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:38.459 might catch a few stray meteors overnight, especially 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.240 in the early morning hours under dark skies. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.100 Everyone's favorite shower, the Perseids, are 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:48.540 coming soon, and they'll kick off in early August. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:59.319 We spend a lot of time looking up, watching for 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:02.800 meteor showers, planets or constellations drifting 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:07.500 through the night, but sometimes we listen. And 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:10.500 sometimes what we hear is stranger than anything 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:13.959 we could have imagined. Let me take you back 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:19.839 to an August night in 1977. Disco is still everywhere. 00:06:20.110 --> 00:06:23.189 Star Wars had just come out a few months before, 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:27.269 and a team of astronomers at Ohio State University 00:06:27.269 --> 00:06:30.310 were scanning the skies with a radio telescope 00:06:30.310 --> 00:06:33.509 the size of a football field. It's called the 00:06:33.509 --> 00:06:37.870 Big Ear, and on August 15th, it picked up something 00:06:37.870 --> 00:06:42.589 odd. A signal, not just static, not a satellite, 00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:46.990 but a strong, narrow band radio burst that lasted 00:06:46.990 --> 00:06:51.899 72 seconds. That's exactly the duration the telescope 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:55.360 could observe a fixed point in the sky as Earth 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.199 rotated. The printout, a long string of computer 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:05.139 data, recorded the burst as 6EQUJ5, and that's 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:08.819 just a code to describe signal strength. But 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:11.500 it stood out from all the surrounding background 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:15.709 noise. One of the astronomers, Jerry Eamon, was 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:19.209 so stunned he grabbed a red pen and circled it, 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:23.529 and in the margin he wrote one word, wow. And 00:07:23.529 --> 00:07:26.810 just like that, the most famous anomaly in radio 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:30.550 astronomy was born. The signal seemed to come 00:07:30.550 --> 00:07:33.569 from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. 00:07:34.060 --> 00:07:37.660 It lined up suspiciously close to the hydrogen 00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:41.620 line, a frequency some researchers believe alien 00:07:41.620 --> 00:07:45.279 civilizations might choose to broadcast on, since 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.279 hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. 00:07:49.339 --> 00:07:52.279 Naturally, scientists scrambled to observe that 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:55.540 region again, but the signal never came back. 00:07:55.899 --> 00:08:00.250 It was never confirmed or explained. For nearly 00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:04.029 50 years the wow signal has stood as this eerie 00:08:04.029 --> 00:08:08.230 one -time whisper from the stars a Cosmic cold 00:08:08.230 --> 00:08:11.930 call that never called back But here's the thing 00:08:11.930 --> 00:08:15.430 lately the universe has gotten a whole lot louder 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:19.009 in just the last year astronomers have been picking 00:08:19.009 --> 00:08:23.149 up brand new signals many just as baffling and 00:08:23.149 --> 00:08:26.170 Some even stranger than the wow signal itself 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:33.049 One of the weirdest is called ASCAP J1832 -0911, 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:36.610 and yet that name doesn't exactly roll off the 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:40.090 tongue, but the behavior is wild. Discovered 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:43.610 earlier this year by the Australian Square Kilometer 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:48.370 Array Pathfinder, ASCAP for short, this object 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:52.470 lies somewhere in the Milky Way. It pulses every 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:56.370 22 minutes. It blasts out powerful radio waves 00:08:56.370 --> 00:09:00.350 and X -rays. Then it vanishes again, hiding for 00:09:00.350 --> 00:09:03.450 nearly three -quarters of an hour. It's like 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.110 clockwork, but we've never seen anything like 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:10.190 it. Astronomers think it might be a kind of magnetar. 00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:13.730 That's a hypermagnetic neutron star, or maybe 00:09:13.730 --> 00:09:17.299 a white dwarf with a companion. But even those 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:20.220 theories don't quite line up. It's as if this 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:22.820 object is doing something it physically shouldn't 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:26.259 be able to do, leading the team studying it to 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:29.500 call it unlike anything we've ever seen before. 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:33.600 A decade ago, another discovery came out of the 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.879 cosmos like waves from a Lovecraftian ham radio 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:41.500 station. This time, the culprit was a white dwarf 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:45.330 star in a tight orbit with a red dwarf. just 00:09:45.330 --> 00:09:48.690 1600 light years away, which is basically next 00:09:48.690 --> 00:09:53.330 door in cosmic terms. Every 125 minutes, it sends 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:56.289 out a little burst of radio waves like a slow 00:09:56.289 --> 00:10:00.750 tap -tap -tap, almost like Morse code from space. 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:04.549 Turns out these two stars are locked in a chaotic 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:08.350 magnetic handshake, and their flares produce 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:11.610 this oddly timed signal. It's the first time 00:10:11.610 --> 00:10:14.649 we've ever seen a white dwarf binary system behave 00:10:14.649 --> 00:10:17.929 this way, and it expands the kinds of places 00:10:17.929 --> 00:10:21.289 we now know can generate cosmic radio noise. 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:25.610 And of course, no modern conversation about space 00:10:25.610 --> 00:10:28.570 signals is complete without talking about fast 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:33.129 radio bursts, or FRBs. These are ultra -short, 00:10:33.429 --> 00:10:36.529 ultra -energetic bursts of radio waves from distant 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:40.679 galaxies. Some last just a millisecond, but in 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.200 that flash they can release more energy than 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.200 our sun does in several days. We've been detecting 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:52.039 FRBs since 2007, and while many seem to be one 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:56.580 -off events, some repeat. A few do so at regular 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:59.740 intervals, and one discovered earlier just this 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:06.690 year, FRB 2024 -0114A, has been firing off bursts 00:11:06.690 --> 00:11:09.870 so frequently, it's become one of the most active 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:13.450 repeaters ever recorded. Even stranger, another 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:17.809 FRB this year was traced to an ancient dead elliptical 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:22.129 galaxy. These galaxies don't have young stars 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:25.590 or much magnetic activity, so where's the burst 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:28.809 coming from? The answer is we really don't know. 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:32.470 Which brings us back to that lonely radio burst 00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:37.480 in 1977. After all these years, and after all 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.460 the weirdness we've found since, there's still 00:11:40.460 --> 00:11:44.059 never been another signal quite like it. No second 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:48.340 call, no follow -up ping, just 72 seconds of 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:52.320 remarkable noise. It may have been a cosmic prank 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.299 by nature, a one -time flare from a strange stellar 00:11:56.299 --> 00:11:59.860 object, or something else. We just don't know, 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.779 and really, that's what makes astronomy so thrilling. 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:06.179 What keeps all of us staring up is that every 00:12:06.179 --> 00:12:08.960 discovery deepens the mystery. And maybe the 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:16.980 next WOW is just waiting to be heard. If the 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:19.500 stars spoke to you this week, or if a question's 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:22.220 been on your mind, I'd love to hear it. Visit 00:12:22.220 --> 00:12:25.559 our website, StarTrails .Show, where you can 00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:29.460 contact me and explore past episodes. Be sure 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:32.899 to follow us on Blue Sky and YouTube. Links are 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:35.480 in the show notes. Until we meet again beneath 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:37.820 the stars, clear skies everyone.