Episode #13-52 "Here Comes the Sun"
Air Dates December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

FIVE MINUTE EPISODE SCRIPT
JAMES: HEY THERE 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.

MARLENE: AND I'M MARLENE HIDALGO, SCIENCE TEACHER FROM MIAMI, FLORIDA. ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT BE OBVIOUS, THE SUN APPEARS TO BE GETTING A BIT WIDER EACH DAY. IT WILL LOOK ITS WIDEST ON SAT. JANUARY 4TH AT 7 A.M. EASTERN TIME.

DEAN: WIDER? BUT WHY?

(STOP & DROP)

DEAN: (IN SPACE) BECAUSE OUR EARTH'S ORBITAL PATH IS NOT A PERFECT CIRCLE AND THE SUN IS NOT AT THE CENTER OF THAT IMPERFECT CIRCLE. WE ACTUALLY USE THE WORD ELLIPSE TO DESCRIBE THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH'S ORBIT. THE EARTH'S DISTANCE FROM THE SUN CHANGES AS IT ORBITS THE SUN. OUR EARTH IS GETTING CLOSER TO THE SUN EACH AND EVERY DAY THROUGH SATURDAY JAN. 4TH WHEN IT'LL REACH ITS CLOSEST POINT, WHAT WE CALL PERIHELION.

JAMES: (FLY IN) THIS IS ALL GOOD INFORMATION BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE WITH OUR EYES FROM OUR BACKYARD. SO LET'S BACK UP A BIT AND TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CAN SEE WITH JUST OUR EYES.

(STOP & DROP TO HORIZON)

MARLENE: WE CAN ACTUALLY WATCH THE SUN RISE EVEN THOUGH SOME OF US MIGHT NOT WANT TO. BUT WHAT DO WE MEAN EXACTLY WHEN WE SAY SUNRISE?

DEAN: BY SUNRISE WE MEAN THE PRECISE MOMENT WHEN THE FIRST VISIBLE PIECE OF THE SUN APPEARS ABOVE THE HORIZON. YOU CAN ACTUALLY SPECIFY THE TIME OF SUNRISE TO THE EXACT SECOND.

JAMES: LET'S ZOOM IN SUPER-CLOSE ON THE SUN AND THE HORIZON SO WE CAN BETTER SEE WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. LET'S HAVE ROB MAKE THE HORIZON TRANSPARENT SO WE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH IT. AND BINGO, THERE'S THE SUN.

MARLENE: THAT SUN IS A LOT BIGGER THAN THE ONE I SEE IN THE SKY.

JAMES: YEAH I KNOW, BUT WE'RE EXAGGERATING TO MAKE A POINT.

DEAN: HERE'S THE SUN ON JAN. 4TH, JUST ABOUT TO POP OVER THE HORIZON. NOW LET'S ADVANCE ONE DAY, AT THE SAME TIME, AND WATCH WHAT HAPPENS: JAN. 4TH  AND THEN JAN. 5TH. BACK TO THE 4TH AND FORWARD TO THE 5TH. NOTICE THE SUN RISES A TINY BIT BUT IT MOVES A GOOD BIT TO THE LEFT.

MARLENE: LET'S ADD A GRID SO YOU CAN SEE THE MOVEMENT A BIT EASIER. NOW LET'S ADVANCE ANOTHER DAY, SAME TIME, JAN. 6TH. BACK TO THE 5TH, SAME TIME, BACK TO THE 4TH, SAME TIME, SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING? AS EACH DAY GOES BY THE SUN IS RISING A BIT EARLIER AND A BIT FARTHER TO THE LEFT.

JAMES: THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD. THIS IS WHAT THE REAL SUN IS ACTUALLY DOING. LET'S GO AHEAD DAY BY DAY, SAME TIME FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. JAN 4TH,

DEAN: 5TH

MARLENE: 6TH

JAMES: 7TH

MARLENE: 8TH

DEAN: 9TH

JAMES: 10TH

DEAN: 11TH

MARLENE: 12TH

JAMES: 13TH

MARLENE: 14TH

DEAN: 15TH

JAMES: AND ON JAN. 16TH THE SUN IS NOW COMPLETELY ABOVE THE HORIZON AND

DEAN: QUITE A BIT TO THE LEFT OF WHERE IT WAS ON JAN. 4TH WHEN THE SUN WAS COMPLETELY BELOW THE HORIZON.

(STOP)

MARLENE: THIS IS WHAT THE SUN IS ACTUALLY DOING AND YOU CAN OBSERVE THIS FOR YOURSELF FROM YOUR OWN BACK YARD. BE SURE TO LOOK AT THE SAME CLOCK TIME EACH DAY.

DEAN: BUT WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO GET UP BEFORE DAWN? WHAT DO WE HAVE AT SUNSET FOR MORE NORMAL PEOPLE, LIKE ME, NEXT WEEK?

JAMES: AHA! I THOUGHT OF THAT ALREADY. AND WE HAVE JUST THE TICKET FOR ALL YOU SUNDOWNERS. LET'S FACE EAST JUST AFTER SUNSET AND BRILLIANT JUPITER IS JUST RISING. JUPITER WILL GET A BIT HIGHER EACH NIGHT AND WILL HAVE A BEAUTIFUL SCOOCHIE WITH THE MOON ON JAN 14TH.

MARLENE: BEFORE YOU GET TOO CARRIED AWAY WITH JUPITER BE SURE TO LOOK INTO THE SOUTHWEST NO MORE THAN AN HOUR AFTER SUNSET AND CATCH VENUS AS IT PREPARES TO LEAVE THE EVENING SKY. VENUS HAS BEEN OUR EVENING STAR FOR MUCH OF THIS PAST YEAR BUT WILL VERY QUICKLY SWITCH TO BECOME THE MORNING STAR.

DEAN: VENUS USUALLY TAKES ABOUT TWO MONTHS TO SWITCH FROM MORNING STAR TO EVENING STAR , BUT NOT SO GOING THE OTHER WAY. ON THURSDAY JAN 9TH AND FRIDAY THE 10 TH YOU MAY BE ABLE TO CATCH VENUS AS EVENING STAR AND THEN AS THE MORNING STAR THE NEXT DAY. TO SEE THIS YOU'LL NEED CLEAR SKIES

MARLENE: AND LUCK

DEAN: NO CLOUDS

JAMES: AND LUCK

DEAN: A CLEAR FLAT HORIZON, BINOCULARS AND

ALL THREE: A LOT OF LUCK.

DEAN: BUT YOU'LL NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU

ALL THREE: KEEP LOOKING UP!

Episode #13-52 "Here Comes the Sun"
Air Dates December 30, 2013 - January 5, 2014

ONE MINUTE EPISODE SCRIPT
DEAN: WE'LL BE CLOSEST TO THE SUN THIS YEAR ON JAN. 4TH.

MARLENE: BUT THE SUN IS NOT ONLY MOVING CLOSER ITS ALSO CHANGING WHERE AND WHEN IT RISES. LET'S SHOW YOU.

(STOP & DROP)

DEAN: HERE'S THE SUN ON JAN. 4TH, JUST ABOUT TO RISE AND HERE IT IS ON JAN 6TH. THE SUN RISES A TINY BIT BUT IT MOVES A GOOD BIT TO THE LEFT.

MARLENE: LET'S ADVANCE ANOTHER TWO DAYS, SAME TIME, JAN. 8TH. SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING? THE SUN RISES A BIT EARLIER AND A BIT FARTHER TO THE LEFT.

(STOP)

MARLENE: LET'S FACE EAST  AFTER SUNSET AND JUPITER IS JUST RISING. JUPITER WILL HAVE A GREAT SCOOCHIE WITH THE MOON ON JAN 14TH.

DEAN: LOOK INTO THE SOUTHWEST JUST AFTER SUNSET AND CATCH VENUS BEFORE IT LEAVES THE EVENING SKY. ON JAN 9TH AND THE 10TH YOU MAY BE ABLE TO CATCH VENUS AS EVENING STAR AND THEN AS THE MORNING STAR THE VERY NEXT DAY. TO SEE THIS YOU'LL NEED CLEAR SKIES

MARLENE: AND LUCK

DEAN: A CLEAR FLAT HORIZON, BINOCULARS AND

BOTH: A LOT OF LUCK.

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!