365 Days of Astronomy - Weekly Edition
Episodes
Ep. 680: Rogue Black Holes
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about rogue stars. This week we’re going to take things up a notch and talk about an even more extreme event. Rogue black holes....
Ep. 679: High(per) Velocity Stars
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Most stars in the Milky Way are trapped in here with us, doomed to orbit around and around and around. But a few have found a way out, an escape into ...
Ep. 678: World Building: Planet Formation, Growth & Ejection
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Okay sci-fi writers, today we’re going to give you a guided tour of building planets. How they form, how they grow, and how things can go horribly h...
Ep. 677: The Answer is Always Dust
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whenever astronomers discover something surprising, the answer often turns out to be dust. Dust obscuring our view, dust changing the polarity, dust w...
Ep. 676: Other Things With Rings
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve spent a lot of time gushing about Saturn’s rings, but there are other places with ring systems. And not just Jupiter and the ice giants, but...
Ep. 675: Exotic Forms of Ice
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ice is ice, right? You know, what you get when water freezes. Well, maybe here on Earth. But across the Universe, water can be squeezed together at di...
Ep. 674: Asteroid Early Warning Systems
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The asteroid apocalypse is one of those existential crises that keep astronomers up at night. But the DART mission showed us that we can push an aster...
Ep. 673: How to See Satellites (or Avoid Seeing Them)
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re in dark skies and look up, you’re certain to see a satellite. Lots of them. But how can you know which one you’re seeing, and how can ...
Ep. 672: Space Debris Removal
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked about the rising problem of space junk. Okay, we know it’s an issue. So what can be done about it? Today we’ll talk about ideas to ...
Ep. 671: The Consequences to Breaking Space Laws
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about the laws that govern space exploration. This week the rubber hits the road. What are the consequences for actually breaking ...
Ep. 670 - Governing Space: The 1967 Outer Space Treaty & More!
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Streamed live on Feb 13, 2023. The Universe was inaccessible for most of human history, but the first tentative steps to space in the 20th Century mad...
Ep. 669: Challenges to Dark Energy
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been over 20 years since astronomers first discovered that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating thanks to dark energy. And in these de...
Ep. 668: The Crisis In Cosmology
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomers have made extremely accurate measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe and come up with different results. And the error bars for...
Ep. 667: JWST First Science
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomers came together in January to present their newest research. And not surprisingly, the winter AAS meeting was heavy on news from the James W...
Ep. 666: Solar System References to the Underworld
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Well, we did it. We made it to episode 666, an auspicious number to be sure. What can we do to celebrate this accomplishment? An episode all about thi...
Ep. 665: The Age of Reionization
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation tells us so much about the Universe. After that era, the Universe went dark. Then, as gas pulled together in...
Ep. 664: The First Stars
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Sun is a third-generation star, polluted with metals from long-dead suns. Astronomers have also discovered second-generation stars, with very low ...
Ep. 663: End of Year Observing Events
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We generally save our stargazing suggestions for the summer, when it’s warmer in the northern hemisphere. But you’re tough, you can handle a littl...
Ep. 662 - Looking Ahead at New and Recycled Missions
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about the missions we’re saying goodbye to. This week, we’re going to talk about some upcoming missions to say hello to. Some ...
Ep. 661: Looking Back on the Missions That Ended
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s always sad to say goodbye, but when we send our robotic emissaries out into the cosmos, it’s just a matter of time before they shut down. Tod...
Astronomy Cast Ep. 660: Runaway! Runaway! Escaping Stars, Planets & Small Bodies
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Moons orbit planets, planets orbit stars, stars orbit within galaxies. It’s orbits all the way down. But occasionally objects can receive a powerful...
Ep. 659: Clear Skies, Bright Satellites
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Streamed live on Nov 8, 2022. Light pollution is big problem and it’s only getting worse. Not just near cities, but everywhere thanks to increased s...
Ep. 658: Space Exploration Horror Stories
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Streamed live on Oct 31, 2022. We’re recording this episode on Halloween, so how could we resist but take advantage of this opportunity. Space is al...
Ep. 657: Astronomical Naming Schemes
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Space is a big place, with lots of galaxies, stars, planets, moons, and that means a lot of names. So how do astronomers name stuff, like comets, aste...
Ep. 656: Smashing Asteroids for Science!
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Streamed live Oct 3rd. This week we saw the incredible image of DART smashing into asteroid Dimorphous. Beyond avenging the dinosaurs, what can we lea...
Ep. 655: 65 Years of Space: Sputnik 1 Anniversary
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Streamed live on Sep 26, 2022. It’s been about 65 years since the Soviets launched the first orbital satellite into low Earth orbit: Sputnik 1. Now ...
Ep. 654: The Side Effects Of Clean Energy
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To battle climate change, we’ll need to rapidly move to carbon-free sources of energy. But this technology isn’t a free lunch. They require metals...
Ep. 653: Climate Change: Looking at the Variables
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is on our mind these days with increasing wildfires, droughts and floods. What are the variables that play into a planet’s changing c...
Ep. 652: The Rocket Race Towards Reusability
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about how single-use rocketry has changed over time, and the role it still plays in launching payloads into orbit and beyond. Toda...
Ep. 651: Artemis & The Decline of Single Use Rockets
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season 16 opener. On the day that we’re recording this, NASA’s Space Launch System is about to blast off. But everyone is expecting it’ll be del...
Ep. 650: Did JWST Work?
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well, this is it. We’re FINALLY going to talk about the James Webb Space Telescope. After decades of development, delays, budget creep, the powerful...
Ep. 650: Did JWST Work?
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well, this is it. We’re FINALLY going to talk about the James Webb Space Telescope. After decades of development, delays, budget creep, the powerful...
Ep. 650: Did JWST Work?
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well, this is it. We’re FINALLY going to talk about the James Webb Space Telescope. After decades of development, delays, budget creep, the powerful...
Ep. 649: Highlights From NASA’s Holiday Ruining History
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever noticed that significant space and astronomy events seem to happen during the holidays? It’s not a coincidence. There’s actually a r...
Ep. 648: Summer Observing
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Summer is officially, astronomically here, and for the folks in the northern hemisphere that means it’s a perfect time to head outside and see what’...
Ep. 647: Best Sci Fi Beach Reading
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
[Editor's Note: The Q&A section was lost when the internet & software demons did their thing. Sorry. I did get the initial co-host banter part adequat...
Ep. 646: Our Long Term Future in Space
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We always say that we're living in golden age of space and astronomy, but it feels like things are just accelerating. Space travel is happening! What ...
Ep. 645: The Future of the ISS
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited for over 20 years now, serving as a peaceful collaboration between space-faring nation...
Ep. 644: Is Earth… Normal?
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've now discovered thousands of exoplanets, we're learning more and more about the kinds of planetary systems there are out there across the Univers...
Ep. 643: Sagittarius A*
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
All the waiting is over, we've finally seen the image of the event horizon from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way. Different s...
Ep. 642: Is the Sun... Normal?
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've always assumed that we lived in a perfectly normal star system with a normal star and normal planets. It's all... normal. But with our modern un...
Ep. 641: Can Planets Be Alive?
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Earth is teeming with life, but the upper atmosphere to kilometers underground. There's no question that our planet has life. But is our planet it...
Ep. 640: Survey Science: Newest Projects & Results
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are general-purpose telescopes and missions that astronomers can use to study specific objects. And there are the survey missions that look at t...
Ep. 639: Big Qs Update: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Etc.
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Knowledge moves forward, and so, we must move with it. Today we'll give you an update on some of the most fascinating, fast-changing topics in astrono...
Ep. 638: Simulating Space Missions
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Although humans have never actually been to Mars, explorers have simulated many aspects of Mars missions here on Earth. There are missions under the o...
Ep. 637: Machine Learning in Astronomy
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Computers are a big part of astronomy, but mostly they've been relegated to doing calculations. But recent developments in machine learning have chang...
Ep. 636: Blowing Bubbles
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We think of space as a vacuum, but there are regions of different density. There are winds blowing from stars and other objects that clear out vast bu...
Ep. 635: Jets: When Magnetic Fields Fling Things
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As astronomers look out across the Universe. They see various objects spewing jets of material light years into space. What causes these jets? And wha...
Ep. 634: Milky Way’s Mergers & Acquisitions
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Milky Way is a vast grand spiral today, but how did it get this way? Astronomers are starting to unravel the history of our galaxy, revealing the ...
Ep. 633: Weirdly Habitable Places
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've always assumed that habitable planets would need to be like Earth; a terrestrial planet orbiting a sunlike star. But now astronomers have been d...
Ep. 632: Building Images: Optical vs Radio
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A recent image from the South African MeerKAT Telescope blew our minds. It was a high resolution image of the center of the Milky Way showing delicate...
Ep. 631: All The Uses Of Pulsars (Including Murder)
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pulsars are the rapidly spinning degenerate husks of dead stars, turning hundreds of times a second. But they're also handy clocks, spinning with such...
Ep. 630: Things We Can Look Forward To
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a rare moment of weakness, Pamela has decided she's open to the possibility that a future exists. That missions, telescopes and spacecraft are goin...
Ep. 629: The Cost of Delays
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With all the success of James Webb so far, it's looking like science's huge gamble is going to pay off, but there were years of delays and budget over...
Ep. 628: The Sun Revisited
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Once again, it's time to take a look at the Sun. You know, the ongoing thermonuclear explosion of fusing hydrogen that's right over there. Fortunately...
Ep. 627: Mercury Revisited
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been about a thousand years since since we last looked at Mercury. So we figured it’s time for an update. What new things have we learned abo...
Ep. 626: Terrestrial Planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our refreshed tour of the solar system, checking in on the inner terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. What have we learned...
Ep. 625: End of the Year Review
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've reached the end of 2021 and this is the last episode of the year. Let's look back at the big space events of the last year and talk about what w...
Ep. 624: Small Rocky Bodies (Including Phobos & Deimos)
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've talked about the icy objects of the Solar System, today let's talk about space rocks. There's a surprising variety of rocky material in the Sola...
Ep. 623: NEOs: Concern or Nah
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are asteroids dangerous? Well, just ask the dinosaurs and they’ll tell you a sad story of fiery death. It turns out we’re in a shooting gallery of...
Ep. 622: Rockier Moons & Giant Asteroids
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So a rock is a rock is a rock. Right? Across the solar system there are giant rocky asteroids and even “gianter” rocky moons. What is the differen...
Ep. 621: Gas Giants
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the longest time the only gas giant planets that we knew about were Jupiter and Saturn. But now, in the age of extrasolar planets, astronomers hav...
Ep. 620: Why Getting to the Outer Worlds is So Difficult
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Good News! Over the next few years we’re gonna see a flotilla of new missions headed to Jupiter and Saturn. Why aren’t we seeing more missions to ...
Ep. 619: Icy Moons & Dwarf Planets
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The outer Solar System is far enough from the Sun that water doesn't get blasted away into deep space. In this icy realm, there are many worlds with v...
Ep. 618: Ice Giants
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So we’re learning more & more about the outer planets of the solar system. Uranus & Neptune are Ice Giants, filled with water and other volatiles th...
Ep. 617: Hangout-A-Thon Episode 2 - Crowdfunding Science
30 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Funding for basic science has always been tricky business, coming mainly from universities, government, companies or wealthy individuals. But who know...
Ep. 616: Hangout-A-Thon Episode 1 - The Great Observatories
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Well, you’re familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope of course, but it’s just one of NASA’s Great Observatories. After Hubble came 3 more incre...
Ep. 615: Planet 9
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After Pluto lost its planethood we were down to 8 planets. But there’s growing evidence of another world or worlds out beyond the orbit of Pluto. Is...
Ep. 614: Centaurs, Comets & Asteroids
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So there are asteroids, and there are comets. But there’s an entirely separate class of objects called centaurs. But instead of half human, half hor...
Ep. 613: Pluto’s Demotion: 15 Years Later
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's been 15 years since Pluto was kicked out of the planet club. It also happens to be the topic of our very first episode of Astronomy Cast more tha...
Ep. 612: The SETI Renaissance
05 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about the various ways that astronomers could detect the presence of intelligent civilizations by observing technosignatures. This...
Ep. 611: What is Required to Confirm Alien Life: Intelligence Edition
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about what it's going to take to confirm basic biological life across the Solar System and the Milky Way. This week, we'll discuss...
Ep. 610: What is Required to Confirm Alien Life: Non-Sentient Edition
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are we alone in the Universe? It's one of the biggest scientific questions we can possibly ask. And yet, with rovers on Mars, missions planned to visi...
Ep. 609: Volcanos With Benefits: Lava Tubes, Hydro Thermal Vents & More
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Volcanos can be some of the worst natural disasters that we can experience here on Earth. But life wouldn't even exist without them. So, what are volc...
Ep. 608: NASA Perseverance, The First 100 Days
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As you all know, Pamela refuses to talk about any missions which aren't actually doing science. Well, Perseverance has crossed the line, from fantasy ...
Ep. 607: InSight and Earthquakes
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mars is cold and dead today, but the massive volcanoes tell us what the planet used to be like, millions and even billions of years ago. But how volca...
Ep. 606 - Time Dilation: Skipping Thru Time
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wanted to be a time traveler? Well, good news! You're time traveling right now. Into the future at one second per second. Taking too lon...
Ep. 605: Sounding Rockets
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about balloon-based astronomy. This week we're gonna talk about putting telescopes on rockets and making observations mid flight. ...
Ep. 604: Balloon Astronomy
10 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
So when you think about the world's observatories, I'm sure you're imagining huge telescopes perched atop mountain peaks or space telescopes like Hubb...
Ep. 603: New Colors of the Radio Spectrum
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about how new telescopes and techniques are allowing astronomers to explore the shortest wavelengths of light. This week we go to ...
Ep. 602: The New Colors of Gamma Rays - Getting Shorter
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Earth's atmosphere protects us from a Universe that is definitely trying to kill us. But it also blocks our view of the entire cosmos, like seeing...
Ep. 601: Unexpected Light Pollution
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Day by day we're loosing our connection with the night sky. Already one third of humanity lives in so much light pollution that they can't see the Mil...
Ep. 600: Looking Ahead
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are gonna gaze into the future of space and astronomy. What upcoming missions & events are we excited about?
Ep. 599: Zodiacal Light
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pamela has told us in the most flowery terms about the diffuse dust across the inner solar system left over from the formation of the inner planets. w...
Ep. 598: How You Could Overturn Cosmology
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You've probably heard of dark matter and dark energy, but maybe you don't fully understand what they are. Or maybe the idea itself just rubs you the w...
Ep. 597: The Expansion of the Universe
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a while since we checked to make sure the Universe was still expanding. Yeah, apparently, that's still a thing. But in the last few years po...
Ep. 596: The Universe’s Background Noise
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You might be familiar with the cosmic microwave background, but that's just one of the background radiations that astronomers look at. Some are well k...
Ep. 595: Planet Hunting - Revisited
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is gonna be another one of those evergreen topics where we come back again and again. Finding planets. Every time we talk about this now it seems...
Ep. 594: Juno - Primary Mission Highlights
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pamela is always loath to talk about spacecraft until the mission's in space and the science is rolling. NASA's Juno Mission just received a mission e...
Ep. 593: Stellar Parasites
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stars often come in groups of 2 or more. And if they're orbiting close enough to each other one star can feast on the other and when that happens, wel...
Ep. 592: Gamma-Ray Bursts - Updated
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the most powerful explosions in the Universe are gamma-ray bursts, capable of blasting a beam of death half way across the galaxy. In just the...
Ep. 591: What Are We Gonna Do With All That Space Junk?
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Remember the good old days when there were only a few thousand living and dead satellites? Well, those days are long over. We're now entering an era w...
Ep. 590: Lunar Hazards: Dust, Radiation and More
11 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2024 can't come soon enough. You know, that's the year when humans will set foot on the Moon again. Now don't you roll your eyes! That's the plan. Unl...
Ep. 589 - Lunar Resources: Water (Update) & Other Volatiles
21 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We've talked about the Moon and its water many times here on Astronomy Cast, but there've been a bunch of big updates thanks to new research from NASA...
Ep. 588 - Lunar Resources: Lava Tubes
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
All eyes are on the Moon. We're going back, this time to stay, right? One of the best resources on the Moon will be the lava tubes that criss-cross th...
Ep. 587: The Artemis Accords
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
So the Moon is about to become a very busy place with multiple countries and private companies planning missions in the next few years. It's been deca...
Ep. 586: Life As We Know It: Habitable Exoplanets & Extremophiles
30 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As scientists continue to explore the Earth, they're discovering life, surviving and even thriving in extreme environments. What hints can this give u...
Ep. 585: Super Earths, Mini-Neptunes & Gas Dwarfs
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomers are finding even more new extrasolar planets and they're starting to discover entirely new categories. There are classes of planets out th...
Ep. 584: Sample Return Missions From Asteroids
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
So with a sample of asteroid Bennu firmly inside OSIRIS-REx's return capsule, it's time to bring this treasure home. So scientists can study the compo...
Ep. 583: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This year's Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three brilliant researchers who worked out some of the secrets of black holes. Today we're going to ...