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April 26, 2025Radio: Today’s Episode
Guardians of the Pole
Guardians of the celestial pole
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Radio: Yesterday’s Episode
Double Destination
A spacecraft with two destinations
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Stargazing
Guardians of the Pole
Kochab and Pherkad serve several roles. The stars are part of the body of Ursa Minor, the little bear. They form the outer edge of the bowl of the Little Dipper. And they are “guardians of the pole” – they circle around the Pole Star, Polaris.
Beta Coma Berenices
Tonight, you can see a star that shows us roughly what the Sun would look like seen from 30 light-years away. That’s how far it is to Beta Comae Berenices, a Sun-like star that’s well to the right of the Big Dipper’s handle in early evening.
Moon and Companions
A lovely triangle decorates the dawn tomorrow. Its brighter points are the crescent Moon and the planet Venus, the Morning Star. The final point is less impressive: the planet Saturn, to the upper right of the Moon, is less than one percent as bright as Venus.
Moon Phases
At the new Moon phase, the Moon is so close to the Sun in the sky that none of the side facing Earth is illuminated (position 1 in illustration). In other words, the Moon is between Earth and Sun. At first quarter, the half-lit Moon is highest in the sky at sunset, then sets about six hours later (3). At full Moon, the Moon is behind Earth in space with respect to the Sun. As the Sun sets, the Moon rises with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to sunlight (5).
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