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StarTalk Radio

Summer Skies

StarTalk Radio

StarTalk Radio

Scientist, Nasa, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Climate Science, Earth Science, Nature, Astronomy, Science, Multiverse, Spacetime, Astrophysicist, Space, Education, Cosmos, Astronomer, Startalk, Quantum Physics, Physics, Universe, Astrophysics, Star Talk

4.6 • 14.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2009

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue? We have too, and so we’re giving you the long-awaited answer, along with more exploration into the mysterious celestial sphere up above. It’s above our heads every day, conveying its lightest and darkest moments, giving hints about the universe around us, and allowing us to learn by looking up…but are we really looking? In this episode of StarTalk, host Neil deGrasse Tyson is joined by co-host and comedian Lynne Koplitz to ponder the many questions, stories, legends, and phenomena of the sky. But first, we just can’t talk about the sky without “Bill Nye the Sky Guy.” We hear a little from Bill about Jupiter’s opposition to the Sun during summer, and the importance of stargazing, as he encourages us to make some time for the sky in our lives. Next on the horizon, Neil and Lynne dig through ancient legends of the night sky, as they invite us to imagine the sky as “Cave TV” before we had the real thing. Neil educates us on the meaning of the word “Planet” in ancient Greek, and Lynne discovers a mistake that may have been the reason all of her wishes on stars haven’t come true. You’ll also hear why marrying an astronomer means you’ll always know where they are at night…like a bartender. The second half of the show gets even more fascinating when “Astronomer Extraordinaire” and News 12 Meteorologist Joe Rao takes a seat. Joe, the ultimate sky expert, answers questions even Neil can’t answer concerning the sky during eclipses, hurricanes, rainbows, shooting stars, the brightest skies of summer, the white skies of winter, and everything in between. Joe also debunks the assumption that you must look away or even stay inside during a total eclipse, while highlighting that the moment of total eclipse is actually the only point when it is safe to look. He tells us about the Great American Eclipse on August 21st, 2017 (In fact, Joe was also our guest on “Cosmic Queries: The Great American Eclipse” the week before it happened!) And before we end, there’s revelation in the air (and a little precipitation) when we unearth the “Creepy Cloud”, A.K.A the Mammatus Cloud, one that was seen over CitiField (shown above) after a heavy thunderstorm that lit up the sky. Feeling enlightened? There’s more where that came from. Listen now for all of the “SkyTalk” you could ever wish for on a star. NOTE: All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://www.startalkradio.net/all-access/summer-skies/

Transcript

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0:00.0

Our universe is filled with secret cinemistries, living us with many questions to be answered.

0:27.4

Now more than ever, we find ourselves searching for those answers as the very fabric of space,

0:39.6

science and society are converging. Here for the first time, these worlds collide.

0:49.2

It is we give you the knowledge that breaks the barrier between what is science and what is

0:55.6

merely pop culture. This is Star Talk. Now here's your host, astrophysicist, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

1:05.6

and comedian Lynn Coplitz. Star Talk. We're back, Lynn. Hello, Neil. We have a great show.

1:16.2

Guess what? It's summertime, but you probably knew that. We're deep into July, and I love July.

1:23.9

I love July. I love July in New York. It's a lot of fun. Why? What do you do? Because everybody,

1:29.5

the men are so distracted by all the breasts that are out. It's just hilarious. You can almost make

1:35.5

taxi cabs wreck. So do you have like notches on your bras for how many taxi cabs you wrecked?

1:41.9

I have notches on my bras for lots of reasons. Let's get on with the science, shall we?

1:46.0

Look skew! My goodness. What are we going to tag in that?

1:51.5

I just want to say, the summer, people like the summer because the days are long,

1:57.0

and you get to have long evening, long, so to twilight. But actually the night is short in the summertime.

2:03.3

The nights are much longer in the winter. Astronomers prefer the winter skies because they're like

2:08.5

crisp and clean and clear, and there's hardly any humidity. I think they feel longer in the summer

2:15.0

because you're outside longer. Well, that's it. You sit down on the porch.

2:21.3

We sit out on the porch in the south, or my people. We don't have porches in New York.

2:27.0

We have stoops. Stoops, you do sit on the stoop, or you go to the roof. So this is about the

2:32.4

summer skies. We're going to have one of my favorite guests of all time. He's going to come on later.

2:36.5

I'll tell you about him in a few minutes. Okay. But usually I feel incomplete unless we begin

2:42.4

by hearing from our friend and buddy. Bill Nye Skye Guys. Bill Nye Skye Guys. You know, I can't

...

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