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...
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...
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 firs...
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 a...
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...
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 win...
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 celeb...
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 U...
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 ...
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 hemi...
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 a...
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’...
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 dow...
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...
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 b...
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. S...
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 Dimorpho...
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 orbit...
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 te...
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 th...
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...
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 b...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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 i...
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....
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 j...
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 ...
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 planet...
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 bla...
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 p...
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 quest...
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...
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...
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 miss...
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 ...
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 f...
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...
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...
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 orbiti...
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 ima...
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....
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....
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 o...
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 fu...
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 ...
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, Me...
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 s...
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 ...
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 de...
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 ev...
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,...
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 an...
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 spac...
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 Ic...
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, governme...
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 G...
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...
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 ca...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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 w...
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...
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, mill...
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 t...
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 telescop...
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...
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 ...
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...
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 s...
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 ...
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 le...
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...
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, ...
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 ra...
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 p...
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 roll...
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...
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 bea...
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, tho...
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. ...
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 bun...
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 t...
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 plann...
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 i...
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 n...
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 thi...
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...
Ep. 582: Building Bigger Black Holes
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Did you hear the news? Nobel prizes for Black Holes! Now, we know there are stellar mass black holes...
Ep. 581: Other Kinds Of Novae
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Don't ever accuse us of not comprehensively covering every kind of exploding star. This week we gath...
Ep. 580: Exploding Dwarfs
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
So you think that a white dwarf star is the end of a stellar life, and it's all downhill from there,...
Ep. 579: White and Black Dwarf Stars
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
I've got some bad news for you. Stars die. At some point in the next few billion years or so our Sun...
Ep. 578: Venus Updates - or - Life on Venus?!?
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
So have you heard the news? Of course you have. Evidence of phosphene on Venus. Which could be a bio...
Ep. 577: Mars in Opposition
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every 2 years or so Mars lines up nicely with the Earth. It takes only 2 minutes to communicate with...
Ep. 576: Summer Stargazing Special
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's time once again for Astronomy Cast to go on hiatus. You've got a couple months on your own to e...
Ep. 575: Observing The Moon
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As amateur astronomers, we curse the Moon every month. Seriously! Why doesn't someone get rid of tha...