Dr. Brian Keating

Are they still around? No. It's very interesting. I'll tell you off the air a recent encounter I've had with the New York Times. But most newspapers have more – hundreds of times more ink written about astrology than astronomy. I mean it's barely – it will barely be in there. And why is that? It's capitalistic society.

So people crave this notion that there's some explanation for the random seeming events that occur in their lives. And that's an urge as ancient as human civilization itself.

So people crave this notion that there's some explanation for the random seeming events that occur in their lives. And that's an urge as ancient as human civilization itself.

So people crave this notion that there's some explanation for the random seeming events that occur in their lives. And that's an urge as ancient as human civilization itself.

Yeah, so I've been in love with telescopes since the age of about 12 when I could first afford one to buy one of my own. And that really came out of the fact that I recognized the limitations of the human eye. It turned out I was 12 years old, woke up in the middle of the night one night, there was this incredibly bright light, you know, brighter than these lights here shining into my room.

Yeah, so I've been in love with telescopes since the age of about 12 when I could first afford one to buy one of my own. And that really came out of the fact that I recognized the limitations of the human eye. It turned out I was 12 years old, woke up in the middle of the night one night, there was this incredibly bright light, you know, brighter than these lights here shining into my room.

Yeah, so I've been in love with telescopes since the age of about 12 when I could first afford one to buy one of my own. And that really came out of the fact that I recognized the limitations of the human eye. It turned out I was 12 years old, woke up in the middle of the night one night, there was this incredibly bright light, you know, brighter than these lights here shining into my room.

And I was like, I don't know, there's a street light outside. This is crazy. Let me look outside and see what it is. And it was the moon. And I had never seen it was near a moon set, which is near sunrise, full moon. And I looked at it and I kept staring at it. And there was a star next to it that kind of looked like a piece of the moon had broken off. It was that bright and that clear.

And I was like, I don't know, there's a street light outside. This is crazy. Let me look outside and see what it is. And it was the moon. And I had never seen it was near a moon set, which is near sunrise, full moon. And I looked at it and I kept staring at it. And there was a star next to it that kind of looked like a piece of the moon had broken off. It was that bright and that clear.

And I was like, I don't know, there's a street light outside. This is crazy. Let me look outside and see what it is. And it was the moon. And I had never seen it was near a moon set, which is near sunrise, full moon. And I looked at it and I kept staring at it. And there was a star next to it that kind of looked like a piece of the moon had broken off. It was that bright and that clear.

And it's unusual to see these kinds of things together. They're actually known as syzygies, which is a great Scrabble word. If you're ever pressed for a win in Scrabble, use the word syzygy. I think it's like 80 points. And that just means a conjunction, an alignment of astronomical objects. I was like, what the hell is this? This is 1984, Andrew. You're younger than me.

And it's unusual to see these kinds of things together. They're actually known as syzygies, which is a great Scrabble word. If you're ever pressed for a win in Scrabble, use the word syzygy. I think it's like 80 points. And that just means a conjunction, an alignment of astronomical objects. I was like, what the hell is this? This is 1984, Andrew. You're younger than me.

And it's unusual to see these kinds of things together. They're actually known as syzygies, which is a great Scrabble word. If you're ever pressed for a win in Scrabble, use the word syzygy. I think it's like 80 points. And that just means a conjunction, an alignment of astronomical objects. I was like, what the hell is this? This is 1984, Andrew. You're younger than me.

But Google did not exist for another 16 years. And I was kind of impatient. I wanted to know what this thing was. What is this thing? It's not moving. It's not flashing. It's not a drone. Back then, it's not Southwest Airlines, right? So I'm looking at it. It's not moving. And day after day, it was like that. And I was like, how am I going to find this out? Like imagine existing.

But Google did not exist for another 16 years. And I was kind of impatient. I wanted to know what this thing was. What is this thing? It's not moving. It's not flashing. It's not a drone. Back then, it's not Southwest Airlines, right? So I'm looking at it. It's not moving. And day after day, it was like that. And I was like, how am I going to find this out? Like imagine existing.

But Google did not exist for another 16 years. And I was kind of impatient. I wanted to know what this thing was. What is this thing? It's not moving. It's not flashing. It's not a drone. Back then, it's not Southwest Airlines, right? So I'm looking at it. It's not moving. And day after day, it was like that. And I was like, how am I going to find this out? Like imagine existing.

We're so blessed that we have the internet and we have these LLMs. It's so easy now to be a scientist or do research. And anybody can do research. Science is for everybody, right? You always highlight that fact.

We're so blessed that we have the internet and we have these LLMs. It's so easy now to be a scientist or do research. And anybody can do research. Science is for everybody, right? You always highlight that fact.

We're so blessed that we have the internet and we have these LLMs. It's so easy now to be a scientist or do research. And anybody can do research. Science is for everybody, right? You always highlight that fact.

So I realized the only way to find out about it was to wait for the New York Times to get delivered on Sunday because they did have a section back then that they don't have now called Cosmos. And in it, it depicted what the night sky looked like that night, which is a Sunday. And that was like three or four days after what – I had this observation, which was incredibly observant.