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Transcript

Winter’s Beacons (And a Holiday Gift) · Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder

• 0:07
  Howdy Star Gazers and Happy Winter Solstice.
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  My name is Drew and I'll be your guide to the
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  night sky for the week of December the 21st to
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  the 27th. I know I said in our most recent episode
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  that we'd be taking a break for the month of
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  December, but I just couldn't help but check
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  in one more time before the new year. And, since
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  it's the holiday season, I wanted to mention
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  a little gift of sorts that I've been working
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  on for the past few months. More on that in a
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  moment. I hope everyone has been enjoying the
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  dark, clear skies of December. I was doing some
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  traveling recently, as I often do this time of
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  year, and I visited Nashville and Memphis, two
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  cities I've never explored, despite them being
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  just a few states over. We had gloomy, cloudy
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  skies the entire time I was on the road, with
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  the exception of one evening when the waning
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  supermoon hung low over the Nashville skyline,
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  looking icy and massive. Since arriving back
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  home, we've had wonderfully clear skies, albeit
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  very cold and windy weather for the southeast.
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  It's nice to see the familiar form of Orion dominating
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  the night sky once again. along with bright Jupiter
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  and the stillness of good seeing. As I mentioned
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  in the introduction, if you're listening on the
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  release date, today is the winter solstice, the
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  moment when the sun reaches its southernmost
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  point in the sky. Astronomically speaking, this
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  is the instant when Earth's axial tilt leans
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  the northern hemisphere most directly away from
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  the sun. The result is the shortest day and longest
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  night of the year. From here on out, the days
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  begin to lengthen again, slowly at first, but
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  inevitably. For thousands of years, cultures
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  around the world have marked this moment as a
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  symbolic rebirth of light. For stargazers, the
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  solstice brings a gift of its own, long early
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  nights and crisp winter skies. Even casual observers
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  stepping outside after dinner can catch some
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  of the most iconic sights in the sky. If you
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  look toward the southeast after sunset, you'll
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  be greeted by Orion, rising into prominence.
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  Orion's three belt stars form an easy visual
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  anchor, and hanging beneath them is the Orion
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  Nebula, one of the finest deep -sky objects visible
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  to the naked eye from dark locations and absolutely
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  stunning through binoculars or small telescope.
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  Just above Orion sits Taurus the Bull, home to
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  the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the
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  Seven Sisters. This tight, glittering cluster
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  is an ideal holiday target, bright, compact,
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  and unmistakable. Binoculars really bring it
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  to life, revealing dozens of stars packed into
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  a small patch of sky. Following Orion across
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  the sky is Canis Major, marked by Sirius, the
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  brightest star in the night sky. Sirius flashes
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  low in the southern sky, often twinkling wildly
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  as its light passes through thick layers of atmosphere,
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  a beacon that's hard to miss once you know where
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  to look. Turning northward, the Big Dipper rides
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  low in the evening but climbs higher as the night
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  goes on. serving as a reliable guidepost for
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  finding Polaris, the North Star. Winter is a
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  great time to revisit these familiar landmarks
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  and notice how their positions shift over the
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  course of the night. The moon this week cooperates
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  nicely for stargazing, offering darker skies
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  for much of the holiday period, perfect for spontaneous
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  backyard observing sessions between gatherings,
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  travel, or quiet evenings at home. So whether
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  you're bundled up in the cold with a telescope,
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  stepping outside with binoculars, or simply looking
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  up while taking out the trash, this Solstice
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  Week invites you to slow down and reconnect with
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  the sky. The nights are long, the stars are bright,
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  and the Sun, though at its weakest, has already
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  begun its return. This Solstice Week also gives
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  us a few planetary highlights. Quiet, steady
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  lights that stand apart from the stars, and reward
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  even casual holiday stargazing. The most commanding
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  of these is Jupiter. You can't miss it. Rising
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  in the early evening and climbing higher as the
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  night goes on, Jupiter shines brilliantly among
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  the winter constellations, outshining everything
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  around it. Through binoculars, you can usually
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  spot its four largest moons lined up like tiny
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  beads of light. With a small telescope, Jupiter
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  resembles a miniature solar system all its own,
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  complete with dark cloud bands stretching across
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  its face. Lower in the sky during the early evening
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  is Saturn, glowing with a soft golden hue. It
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  doesn't demand attention the way Jupiter does,
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  but it rewards patience. Even small telescopes
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  reveal its rings, and there's something especially
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  fitting about seeing Saturn during the holidays.
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  a planet that feels slow, ancient, and deliberate,
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  quietly keeping time as the year comes to a close.
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  In the early morning hours, sharp -eyed observers
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  may also catch Mercury low near the horizon before
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  sunrise. It's a challenging target, but spotting
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  it feels like a small victory in the glow of
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  dawn. The moon plays a supportive role later
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  this week, returning to the evening sky as a
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  thin crescent. Its modest presence means darker
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  skies for much of the holiday period, perfect
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  for stargazing without moonlight washing out
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  the stars. And while meteor activity is quieter
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  now than earlier in December, patient observers
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  may still catch an occasional Ircid meteor streaking
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  out from the northern sky. Brief flashes of motion
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  in an otherwise calm, frozen cosmos. I wanted
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  to make a quick side note for anyone who's enjoyed
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  some of the bigger ideas we explored on Star
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  Trails over the past month. Subjects like time
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  dilation, interstellar travel, near -light speed
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  propulsion, and the very human challenge of communicating
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  with something truly alien. If those topics lit
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  up your brain like they lit up mine, you may
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  want to check out the novel Project Hail Mary
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  by Andy Weir. Weir is best known for The Martian,
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  which took orbital mechanics, chemistry, and
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  sheer stubborn problem -solving and turned them
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  into a survival story. Project Hail Mary pushes
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  those ideas much farther out beyond the solar
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  system while still grounding its science and
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  real physics and real consequences. What makes
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  the book especially fun for science -minded readers
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  is how it treats big concepts not as abstract
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  equations, but as lived experiences. Relativity
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  isn't something that happens on a chalkboard,
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  and communication across species isn't solved
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  with universal translators, but with patience,
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  logic, and creativity. So, if you've enjoyed
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  November's deep dives into cosmic timescales,
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  lonely distances between stars, and the strange
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  limits imposed by physics, Project Hail Mary
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  feels like a natural companion piece. It's science
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  fiction that respects science, and it's a fun
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  page -turner. And if you've never read The Martian,
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  grab that one, too. It's also excellent. Some
• 8:04
  listeners may recall I was planning to read Terrence
• 8:07
  Dickinson's Night Watch some months back as part
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  of a little Star Trails book club idea, and sadly
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  I haven't read it yet. Just tonight I pulled
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  it off the shelf and hope to begin scanning it
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  soon. And finally, it is the holidays, so I wanted
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  to extend a gift of sorts to listeners. And it's
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  a little meta, but hopefully some of you will
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  enjoy it. You've probably noticed that I've been
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  using more music in recent episodes. A lot of
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  this music is original, and some folks have asked
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  about it. In the past few weeks, I've been preparing
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  some of these tracks for release. This culminated
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  in assembling three albums worth of spacey music.
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  You may have heard some of these songs in recent
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  episodes. Some of it you'll hear in upcoming
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  ones. And some of it is just for fun. So if you
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  like planetarium music, or music inspired by
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  artists like Tangerine Dream, Tycho, or Brian
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  Eno, check out my new project, Liminal Horizon.
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  There will be a link in the show notes, or you
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  can just visit liminalhorizon .bandcamp .com.
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  You can listen to these tracks absolutely for
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  free right there on the web page, or in their
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  app. If you want to download the tracks, drop
• 9:30
  me a note on our website, startrails .show, and
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  I'll send you a code you can use to download
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  them for free. But really, just pulling up the
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  Bandcamp page on a mobile device or computer
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  will get the job done. This is music designed
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  for stargazing, driving out to a dark site, or
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  for background ambiance while studying, writing,
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  or coding. The three collections of songs are
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  thematically different. A Line Between Worlds
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  features tunes dedicated to wonder and awe. The
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  Continuum in Motion features slower, more contemplative
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  tracks. And my favorite, The Passage Through
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  Shadow, features darker songs with harder beats
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  and aggressive sounds. That's going to do it
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  for this quick holiday episode. I'll see you
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  in the new year. Links are in the show notes.
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  Until we meet again beneath the stars, clear
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  skies everyone.