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After a little break (of 25 years or so) Bob King is celebrating his retirement with a return to The North 103.3's airwaves!After almost 40 years with the Duluth News Tribune, Bob is now retired. But scratch a print guy and you'll find a radio guy; King and then-UMD Planetarium Director Glen Langhorst hosted Startalk on KUMD for several years in the early '90s.Listen for Astro Bob every other Tuesday at 8am on Northland Morning.

Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy: Beyond the Smokey Skies

Sun behind wildfire smoke in western sky - May 15, 2023
Bob King

"It doesn't look normal at all," says Bob King regarding the new red tint taken on by our sun due to wildfire smoke from Canada. "It was just this cherry-orange ball in the western sky," says King of the sun on May 15th.

Though this unique sight might be interesting, the smoke doesn't offer much otherwise. An early-morning view of a conjunction between Jupiter and the crescent moon could be thwarted, as might a gathering of Castor, Pollux, Mars and Venus tonight. The International Space Station will be on the move throughout the end of May. King is fairly optimistic about the ISS being visible through the smokey skies tonight around 10:01pm.

In other news, Saturn has now taken the lead in our solar system for the most moons. In just the past couple of weeks, astronomers have added 62 moons to Saturn's count bringing its total up to 145; fifty more than Jupiter. Some of the moons (or "moonlets") are quite small, but "there's no minimum size for a moon."

Luke Moravec is the host for Northland Morning on The North 103.3. He’s also a local actor, musician and writer. He loves puzzles, riddles and fun mysteries.
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