01x06 - How Come the Moon Changes Shape/Night of a Billion Stars

Post by **bunniefuu** » 12/25/25 19:45

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ He'll rocket to fame ♪

♪ When he arrived, he created a buzz ♪

♪ 'Cause there was no house ♪

♪ And then there was, he said ♪

- ♪ People of Earth! You ain't seen nothing yet! ♪

♪ I'm from Bortron , and my name is Jet! ♪

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ He looks like us ♪

♪ But he isn't the same ♪

- ♪ I'm a space tripper and a galaxy crosser ♪

♪ My parents brought me here in a flying saucer ♪

- ♪ And just to prove it was a fact ♪

♪ He flew them out to space and back ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[spaceship whirring]

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ He showed up, and now it's a blast ♪

♪ Looks like the future really got here fast ♪

- ♪ Nice to meet you, human race ♪

♪ Tell me all about the place ♪

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

all: Ready! Jet! Go!

- Wow! Look at that moon. - Yeah.

- When the Moon is a thin, little sliver like that,

it's called a crescent moon.

- What a beautiful sight.

- I love watching it change shape each night.

- Yep.

Even though you only have the one moon,

it's a fantastic one!

- Wait.

Don't we have a lot of moons?

Like the fat, round one

and the one shaped like a taco

and this one that's all skinny with pointy ends?

- You mean a crescent moon.

- Yeah, and a crescent moon too.

- Oh!

I get why you think there's a bunch of moons, Mindy.

You think each different shape is a different moon.

- Right, there's a bunch of moons.

- No, see, the Moon only seems to change shape

as it orbits the Earth

and the Sun lights it up different ways.

- Huh? It orbits what?

- Well, see Mindy, the Sun lights up the Moon.

See? That's the Sun.

And the way the Moon looks depends on where you are

when you see the Sun light it up.

- I still don't get it.

- Look, I'll be the Sun, and, Jet, you be the Moon.

Wait.

You be the Earth, and, Sean, you--

- Wait, no. I'll be the Sun.

All of you orbit around me.

- No, I've got the flashlight. I'll be the Moon.

[all speaking at once] - [laughing]

You guys are funny.

[all speaking at once] - Come on.

- Mindy, Mindy, look at me. Look at me.

- Oh, well, when on Earth, do as the Earthies do.

[jazzy music]

h*-h*-h*!

- Whoa-oh!

Ooh-hoo-hoo!

- Hey, Mom and Dad,

can you stop dancing and help?

- Help with what?

We thought we were helping you with your Earth dance.

- We were trying to explain something to Mindy.

- Yeah, how come the Moon changes shape?

- Ah, so you were doing a moon dance to explain it.

- Well, sort of.

- Hmm.

Well, that really is a great question, Mindy.

Why does the Moon seem to change shape?

I guess it all depends on your perspective.

- Ah, respective.

Right.

What's "respective" again?

- "Perspective" means "the way something looks

from where you are when you see it."

- That's a big word.

- Well, maybe we need to change our perspective

to show you what I mean.

Ooh, say, why don't we fly out to where we can see the Earth,

the Moon, and the Sun for a fresh perspective?

- Yes! Yes! - Whoo-hoo!

- Fly out to where, exactly?

- To the Moon, Sean!

You know, that sounds fun, Celery.

Why don't I join you all on this adventure?

- Yay! Mr. Propulsion's coming too?

- Yes! Great, hon.

- Like we say on Bortron ,

"If you don't do it right now when you think of it,

you might later regret that you didn't."

- You mean, like, "If not now, when?"

- Hmm. "If not now, when?"

[laughs] I like it!

- Well, I guess some of the poetry

of the Bortronian saying gets lost in the translation.

Ah. - [clears throat]

Sunspot, if you please.

[accordion music]

♪ Well, I could fix a little dinner, my dear ♪

♪ But this night is such a winner, my dear ♪

♪ See the stars are all a-twinkling ♪

♪ Are you thinkling what I'm thinkling? ♪

- ♪ Let's fly our little saucer to the Moon ♪

- ♪ You could ask for Mona Leet-za tonight ♪

- Oh!

- ♪ We can always order pizza tonight ♪

♪ Gosh, you're just so darn good-looking ♪

♪ Think I'll drop my plans for cooking ♪

both: ♪ Let's fly our little saucer to the Moon ♪

♪ Let's fly our little saucer to the Moon ♪

♪ It's a perfect Earthie evening in June ♪

- ♪ The sink is full of dirty dishes, you know ♪

- ♪ But you're the answer to my wishes, and so ♪

♪ In a minute, maybe soon-a ♪

♪ We could be orbiting over Luna ♪

both: ♪ Let's fly our little saucer to the Moon ♪

♪ Fly our little saucer to the Moon ♪

[all cheering] - Yay!

That was amazing!

- Oh, that was lovely.

Okay, everyone ready to fly to the Moon?

- Ah, first let me order dinner.

[line trills] - Boxwood Pizza.

- Hello.

I'd like a very large pie pizza

with mushroom, anchovies, fish, pineapple, apricot--

- Don't forget arugula. - Oh, and arugula.

Uh-huh, with extra gravy, please.

- Yuck! - Thank you.

End of transmission.

All right, dinner will be here in less than minutes,

or they'll cheerfully refund my Earth money.

Let's hit it!

- Wait.

Why are we going to the Moon, again?

- Because it's fun.

- And to find out how come the Moon changes shape.

- Right, Mindy.

To discover why the Moon changes its shape

when seen from the Earth as it goes through its phases.

- Yeah, that too.

- Ah, you know, Celery,

that's why I married you in the first place.

You are amazingly smart

and fun.

- Oh. [clicks tongue]

Right back in your general direction, Carrot.

All right, everybody, hop in.

[light music]

- Um, is this trip really necessary?

- It's okay if you're scared, Sean.

- Well, I'm not scared, exactly.

It's just that I like to be scientific

about my space travel, and--

- Me too, Sean.

I get nervous about it sometimes.

- You do? - I do.

But just because something makes you nervous

doesn't mean you can't do it.

Come on. - [sighs]

- Well, I can't go to the Moon with you guys.

My mom says I'm only allowed to go as far as Jet's yard.

Besides, I got trumpet lessons.

- I thought it was rumba lessons.

- That was Tuesday.

I've got a full schedule.

See you.

all: Bye!

- Everyone ready? - Ooh.

Actually, I haven't checked the wiper fluid

in a while and--

- ♪ , , , , ♪

♪ Doors are shut, engines on ♪

♪ Everybody in their place? ♪

♪ Let's go into outer space! ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

[Sean screaming]

[all cheering]

[spaceship whirring]

[adventurous music] - h*-h*-h*!

I have to admit it.

Space travel is a thrill,

but I prefer to let Celery drive.

My driving just makes her nervous.

- Wow!

I can't imagine anyone's driving

making me more nervous.

- Well, I never let being nervous stop me.

- Ooh-hoo-hoo!

And I sure prefer driving.

For me, it's easier to steer around a bunch of asteroids

than sit helplessly watching them from the passenger seat.

- Oh, hon, look out for that star!

- Carrot, that star is light-years away.

Relax.

We're just going to the Moon.

- [chuckles] Right.

- It's all a part of my training to be an astronaut.

It's all a part of my training to be an astronaut.

- Sean, we're already astronauts.

We'll be at the Moon in one minute.

- Ooh-hoo, more like ten seconds.

- I got to admit it.

These guys really know how to get through traffic.

[jet engines whirring]

- Ah, look out! The Moon!

- Yes, dear. That's where we're headed.

- Hmm. Okay.

I see the light half and now the dark half.

So why does the Moon change shape

when we see it from Earth?

- This is why "perspective"

is one of favorite Earth words.

The way something looks depends on where you are

when you see it.

Hmm.

I'm being followed by a moon shadow.

Oh. Ha!

It's just Sunspot.

[whimsical electronic music]

Okay, let's figure this out.

There's the Earth over there.

And both the Moon and the Sun are over on this side.

- Hmm.

So from that perspective on Earth...

- We see only a little sliver of the Moon lit up by the Sun.

- Okay, so when the Moon is full,

what's happening then?

- Oh, mind if I join in?

Maybe I can offer some visual assistance.

all: Hi, Face!

- Hello, space travelers.

Here's where we are now,

with the Moon between the Earth and the Sun.

The Moon orbits around,

and when it reaches the other side of the Earth...

- It gets completely lit up!

- So it's a full moon. Cool!

- Face, how long does it take

for the Moon to orbit around the Earth?

- A few weeks? - A month?

- Those are very good guesses.

The Moon orbits around the Earth about every days,

which is about one Earth month.

- Yes!

- Wow!

I should come into space with you more often.

I'm really learning a lot today.

- Oh, hello, Carrot.

I thought you were home making Earth dinner.

- Ha, I decided not to cook tonight.

Instead, I ordered a pie pizza.

- Pie pizza. Ooh, I love pie pizza.

- Ooh, all this talk about pie pizza makes me hungry.

Let's take one more spin around the Moon

and then head home.

- Yes!

I mean, good idea.

I love pizza too!

[jazzy music]

both: Ahh! Earth!

Look out!

- Boys, I got this.

Relax. Enjoy the ride.

[both laughing nervously]

- Oh. - [sighs]

- Whew! - I'm glad you came along.

You're right.

Why should we be nervous?

Celery really is a great driver.

- Isn't she?

Voted best Bortronian driver

three years in a row.

She is positively the amazing!

- Oh, right back in your general direction, Carrot.

- Okay, just to make sure we got it, Face,

show us how the Moon orbits around the Earth

and changes shape.

- All right, here's the beginning phase,

with the Moon between the Sun and the Earth.

From your perspective, it's all dark--

a new moon.

Then as it orbits around, it gets lit on its edge--

a crescent moon.

Side-by-side with the Earth,

it appears as a half moon.

When it reaches the far side,

it's fully lit up from Earth's perspective,

which you call...

all: A full moon!

- See?

That's why the Moon changes shape.

- Right.

It's all about respective.

- Um, per-spective.

- Perspective.

And that's why there's lots of moons.

- Mindy, time for bed!

- Thanks, Face. Bye!

- But wait. There's only one Moon!

- And it only seems to change shape because--

- Because--look.

The pizza's here.

- Ah, they got it right.

Fish, anchovies, mushroom, pineapple, apricot--

- Ooh, ooh, ooh, and arugula,

with extra gravy.

- Good! Let's eat!

- Wait.

First, how about one more moon dance?

- Why not?

It's a marvelous night for it.

- Ooh-hoo-hoo! - Hey.

[jazzy music]

[laughter and indistinct chatter]

- Okay!

♪ ♪

- [whispering] Hey, Sunspot.

I know there's only one Moon.

I just like making the big kids

have to explain it over and over again.

- [squeaks] - [giggles]

- [squeaking]

♪ ♪

- Hi. I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer.

What do lightning, static, and magnets all have in common?

They're all very closely related,

and they're part of something that we call electromagnetism.

But what does electricity have to do with magnets?

Well, to find out, we're gonna make

our own electromagnet.

That means we're gonna take electricity

and convert it into magnetism.

But first, I'm gonna put on my safety glasses,

and as always, don't try this without a grown-up.

We're going to start off

with this ordinary piece of metal here--

and you can see it;

it doesn't have any unusual magnetic properties to it--

and the just some plain old wire.

But the key thing that makes it all happen

is the energy stored in this battery.

And now let's have some fun.

The first thing we're gonna do is,

we're going to take this wire and wrap it around this nail.

The wire is gonna carry electric current, electricity,

and by going around and around and around,

that electricity is going to get converted into magnetism.

Okay, we've got lots of wire coiled around this nail,

but it's still not a magnet.

Now, by attaching this battery, for the moment of truth...

[upbeat music]

Wow! All right, look at that.

Pretty cool.

But watch what happens when we take the wire

off the battery.

[nails clacking]

With the wire off, there's no more electricity flowing

and no more magnet.

So the next time somebody tells you

you have a magnetic personality,

tell them you got a charge out of that compliment.

- Jet, what is that? A flying laboratory?

- A go-kart with a bubble over it?

- Or is it a robot elephant?

- Actually, it's a Bortronian tent.

- Cool-looking.

- It is cool,

even though it's not a robot elephant.

- What do you use it for, Jet?

- We use them for a fun activity

on Bortron where we rest outside

and not in our usual family building

and we look out at the star-filled sky

singing catchy songs that have a tune.

[electric guitar strums]

- You mean a backyard sleepover?

- [laughs]

"Sleepover," what a great Earth word.

I think that's what I mean.

- Great idea, Jet!

I say let's have our own backyard sleepover.

- Yes!

- A sleepover?

But it could rain

or the ground could be too bumpy,

and where would we all sleep?

- Good ideas. We'll figure it out, Sean.

I can't wait for our sleepover.

Excelsior!

[dramatic musical flourish]

- I can't stay to sleep,

but I want to see what getting ready

for a big kids' sleepover is all about.

- Sleepovers rule!

I brought snacks, my space-themed sleeping bag--

- A bag to sleep in?

That is so Earth.

- My Commander Cressida comic books,

and binoculars to look at the stars.

- We can use your binoculars

to count all the stars in the sky!

- No one can count all of them, Mindy.

There's way too many.

- Maybe I can, Sean.

I know math.

I've counted to before.

Why did you bring so much stuff?

- My mom made me bring all these things.

I have flashlights, two coats,

sunblock, bugblock, moonblock--

- Wait. Moonblock?

- My dad says you can't be too safe.

Extra socks, a rocket sleeping bag,

and my Neil Armstrong,

the first human on the Moon.

- Hi, Neil.

Good to meet you.

You're a small, very still Earthie, aren't you?

[whispering] Neil seems nice.

Doesn't talk much.

- Neil is just a little action figure

of an Earthie, like a toy.

- Well, he sure looks like a real Earthie guy.

Anyway, I hope Neil has fun on our sleepover.

- So you brought your toy that you sleep with?

- No, it's not like that.

See, uh, Neil doesn't like to be left alone.

- Want to know a secret?

I have a toy that I sleep with.

It helps me at night.

It's Stuffy Bear.

- Um, thanks, Mindy,

but this is nothing like that.

- You're going to be fine, Sean.

We're all doing this sleepover together.

- Ah, I love night.

It's the very best time of day.

You can see so many more stars and planets at night.

- And they all twinkle, like the song.

♪ Twinkle, twinkle ♪

[accordion music] ♪ Little star ♪

♪ How I wonder what you are ♪

I know what they are!

Stars!

- Wait. Do all stars twinkle?

- I'm not sure.

That's the big question!

- How's the over-sleep going, kids?

- No, no, hon. It's called a sleep-under.

- Um, Mr. and Mrs. Propulsion,

it's actually called a sleepover.

both: Ahh!

A sleepover.

- So you sleep over the ground

but under the stars.

Ah, Earth words.

- All right, Earth friends,

it's time for a grand tour of my Bortronian tent.

[drumroll]

Ta-da!

[whimsical musical flourish]

- Uh, Jet,

this is just a tent.

- Yes, and isn't it space-tacular?

Are you ready for the best part?

[panel creaks]

A see-through roof so you can look at the Moon!

- Cool! A moonroof.

- Yeah, I think I can see Mars.

- And I see stars!

It's a Moon-and-Mars-and-stars roof!

[booming]

- Ahh. What's that?

It's a monster!

- An Earth monster?

Never seen one before.

Can't wait! - Hey, monster!

Who are you?

[dramatic musical flourish]

all: Sunspot! - [squeaks]

[squeaking]

[chirps]

- Sunspot wants to show us something.

- [squeaks]

all: Wow!

- Where did Sunspot get that?

- Uh, he made it in his spare time.

[door clicking and creaking]

[door thuds]

[whimsical music]

[rumba music]

[indistinct chatter]

- [giggling]

Best party ever down there!

♪ ♪

[giggling]

♪ ♪

[all laughing]

- Kids, I was reading up on Earth backyard sleepovers.

We are also supposed to sit in a circle

to eat snacks.

- I have a sleepover snack.

It's called s'mores.

- Ooh, I love s'mores!

Graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows!

- Or flat cake, barbecue sauce,

and cheese from a cottage.

- [squeaking] - [grunting]

[fire crackling]

- Mmm, eating s'mores with friends,

looking at the amazing stars...

- Mindy, time to come home!

- [gulps] Coming, Mom!

Thanks for the s'mores.

Just so you know, when I'm five,

we're going to stay up all night, every night.

- We'll absolutely have sleepovers

when you're older, Mindy.

- Really? Yay!

Okay, I'm going to go look out my window

at all the twinkling stars and planets,

and I'm gonna give them all names and count them!

- We'll be looking up at the stars and planets too, Mindy.

And when we find out which ones twinkle,

I'll let you know.

- Thanks, Sydney.

Good night!

all: Good night, Mindy!

- Wow! There are so many stars!

- Wait.

Sean, did you bring your birthday telescope?

- Remember, this telescope was a very special gift,

so please, please be extra careful with it.

[whirring and clanking]

- [gasps] Jet!

What are you doing?

- Jet, look what you did!

That's Sean's telescope, not yours.

Think how Sean feels when he saw what you did.

- Here's a hint: not good.

- Oh, I'm sorry, Sean.

I didn't mean to hurt how you feel,

but, hey, now we get to put your telescope

back together!

Like you Earthies say,

it's a win-win.

- Win-win? How?

[tools whooshing]

[clanking and whirring]

[whoosh]

- Wow! Thanks!

It's like new!

Wait.

What is that? What did you--

[sighs] Breathe.

It's only a telescope.

- Actually it's not only a telescope.

Now it also makes hot cocoa.

- Mmm. - [slurping]

- Ahh. - This is good.

- Really good cocoa.

But I guess my telescope will never be the same.

[ratcheting and whirring]

- [squeaks]

[chirps]

- Wow! Thanks, Sunspot!

- [chirps]

- The telescope is fixed? Good!

I see...two planets:

Mars and Venus.

At least, I think it's Venus.

- Yep, it's Venus.

- The stars twinkle, but the planets don't seem to.

There's something weird going on.

- Hey, Face will know the answer.

[electronic warbling] - Face ...

all: Hi, Face! - Ready to assist you.

- Greetings, everyone.

To answer your big question,

stars do seem to twinkle in the night sky.

You see, every star gives off light,

but since stars are so far away from the Earth,

that light travels a very long distance,

and light rays from stars bend in funny ways

as they travel through space

and then through the Earth's atmosphere.

- So that's why stars twinkle, but do planets?

- Good question, Sydney.

Planets are much closer to Earth,

so their light doesn't travel as far.

Therefore, planets do not twinkle.

Yee-awn.

Well, nighty-night, all.

Enjoy your over-sleep.

all: Thanks, Face! - Good night, Face!

[electronic warbling]

- You know, I'm really enjoying this sleepover.

Maybe I'm getting used to it.

- It's fun being out at night, right?

And like Commander Cressida says,

we all have two amazing stargazing instruments

with us all the time-- our eyes.

- Yeah, let's use them.

[light music]

- So beautiful!

I wonder if Mindy has named any of the stars yet.

- Did you guys know that your neighborhood stars

all have names?

Really funny Earth names.

- Like what? - Eh-heh-hem.

I feel a song coming on.

[acoustic guitar music]

♪ I've been to Venus ♪

♪ To Neptune and Mars ♪

♪ But the night sky there ♪

♪ Well, it hardly compares ♪

♪ To the fabulous view ♪

♪ From this planet of ours ♪

♪ On this night of a bazillion stars ♪

♪ You see, there's Sirius, Castor ♪

♪ And Beta Centaurus ♪

♪ Arcturus and Vega and more ♪

[upbeat music]

♪ Canopus, Rigel ♪

♪ And Achernar ♪

♪ There's Deneb and Polaris ♪

♪ And there's more by far ♪

♪ Betelgeuse, Altair ♪

♪ And Kaus Borealis ♪

♪ Pollux, Mimosa ♪

♪ Alula Australis ♪

♪ Procyon, Spica ♪

♪ And wait, I'm so sorry ♪

♪ I left out our nearest neighbor ♪

♪ Alpha Centauri ♪

all: ♪ We've been to Venus ♪

♪ To Neptune and Mars ♪

♪ But the night sky there ♪

♪ Can hardly compare ♪

♪ To the fabulous view ♪

♪ From this planet of ours ♪

♪ On this night of a bazillion ♪

♪ Way more than a million ♪

♪ Night of a bazillion stars ♪

- There's Algol!

Vega!

Merope!

Pleione!

Regulus!

Zosma, Sulafat!

Sirma!

Zubenelgenubi!

- Zubene--wha?

- No, really.

It's right over there.

all: ♪ On this night ♪

♪ Of a bazillion stars ♪

- Please quiet down!

I'm trying to count all the stars!

I was just at Zubenelgenubi!

- Sorry, Mindy!

Oh, and only stars twinkle, not planets!

- Yep, I knew it all along!

- Oh, well, kids, it's bedtime.

Carrot and I will be right here all night,

so sleep tight.

Don't let the bacon bite.

- I think it's, "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

- Bacon or bedbugs or blueberries,

as long as it does not bite.

[gentle music]

- Sean, you okay?

- Yep. Neil Armstrong and I are good.

I bet you never get nervous at night, do you, Sydney?

- Well, it helps I have Commander Cressida.

I never sleep without her.

[both laugh]

- [sighs] What a night.

I'm with my best friends,

the Earth moon, planets,

and stars that twinkle.

Best over-sleep ever!

- I counted million thousand

and stars plus Zubenelgenubi!

♪ ♪

Hello? Is anybody else up?

- Hi. I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer.

You've probably seen a printer

that can print things on a flat piece of paper.

But what if you had a printer

that would actually let you print in all three dimensions

at the same time?

I'm here in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's -D printer lab

where we can do just that.

So I'm here with Don Scudamore.

Don, can you tell us a little bit

about your job and how the -D printer works?

- I'm a manufacturing engineer here at JPL.

This portion of my job is the model shop,

and we do -D printing in here.

The way that a -D printer works is,

it builds on a tray and builds your plastic part

one layer at a time.

[funky music]

- So the -D printer kind of grows this whole part?

- Exactly. On this one,

you can really see the layer on this comet.

- Wow! - You can see each layer.

- Oh, yeah.

So we actually just send the shape

from the computer to the -D printer,

and it just grows it.

- If you can model it in -D then we can print it.

This is the comet-- actual shape,

not the actual size of the comet--

from the Rosetta mission,

and this Philae lander just landed on there.

- So we've used -D printers

to help us understand how to fly missions to comets

and even land on them.

- That's correct.

- You can imagine, someday,

the astronauts will be on the space station

printing all the things that they need

to fix the station.

Who knows?

Someday, maybe we'll be living on Mars

and using -D printers to print spare parts,

like this wheel here,

or even food.

You could even maybe someday print pizza.

Ooh, pizza. Is it time for lunch?

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Jet Propulsion! - Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!