Space is a big place, with a lot of galaxies, stars, planets and moons, and that means a lot of names. How do astronomers name stuff, like comets, asteroids, exoplanets, craters?
Our Hosts
Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
Production by
- Richard Drumm, Audio Engineer
- Ally Pelphrey, Video Engineer
17 Seasons
700+ Episodes
Ep. 656: Smashing Asteroids for Science!
This week we saw the incredible image of DART smashing into asteroid Dimorphos. Beyond avenging the dinosaurs, what can we learn scientifically from this and other asteroid/comet impact missions?
Ep. 655: 65 Years of Space: Sputnik 1 Anniversary
It’s been about 65 years since the Soviets launched the first orbital satellite into low Earth orbit: Sputnik 1. Now there are thousands of satellites in orbit, with tens of thousands on the way. Let’s look at the impact that Sputnik had on the history of spaceflight.
Ep. 654: Side Effects of Clean Energy
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, generate waste and deplete the environment. What’s the best way to balance this shift?
Recent Episodes
Ep. 402: Gravity Eyes: See The Invisible With The Force
What kinds of things can we see using gravity, that we may not otherwise be able to see? Pamela will fill us in on the Great Attractor, etc! Download the show [MP3] | Jump to Shownotes | Jump to Transcript This episode is sponsored by: Swinburne Astronomy Online,...
Ep. 401: Future Predictions
What do Pamela and Fraser think will happen or be discovered in 2016? What would they like to see in the near future? Download the show [MP3] | Jump to Shownotes | Jump to Transcript This episode is sponsored by: Swinburne Astronomy Online, 8th Light,...
Ep. 400: The State of the Universe
It's time for us to go back and catch up with all of the projects, news stories, weird star systems, and other topics that need updating! Download the show [MP3] | Jump to Shownotes | Jump to Transcript This episode is sponsored by: Swinburne Astronomy Online,...
Ep. 399 – Women in Science
Science is typically a male dominated profession, mostly dudes, not a lot of ladies. From researchers to professors, to law makers, woman have a tough time gaining traction in such a heavily gendered field. Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to make it as a...
Ep. 398 – Seeing Things: Emitting, Reflecting, Ionizing Light
Astronomers gather electromagnetic radiation with the telescopes: mostly visible light. But sometimes they've got to be clever about where they look for these elusive photons. Light can get emitted, absorbed, reflected, and each method tells astronomers a little more...
Ep. 397: A Universe From Nothing
One of the biggest, most basic questions you can ask is: “why is there something and not nothing?” The reality is that we don’t know the answer, we might never know the answer. Today we’ll investigate this mystery, recently covered by the physicist Lawrence Krauss in...
Ep. 396: Family Astronomy for the Holidays
Every year, it’s the same dilemma: what gift should you get for the super space nerd in the family? And if someone has a budding interest in space and astronomy, what can you do to feed their hunger for knowledge? Today we’ll talk telescopes, books and planispheres....
Ep. 395 – Baryons and Beyond the Standard Model
In the last few episodes, we’ve been talking about the standard model of physics, explaining what everything is made up of. But the reality is that we probably don’t know a fraction of how everything is put together. This week we’re going to talk about baryons, the...
Ep. 394: The Standard Model – Bosons
All fundamental particles are either fermions or bosons. Last week we talked about quarks, which are fermions. This week we'll talk about bosons, including the famous Higgs boson, recently confirmed by the Large Hadron Collider. Download the show [MP3] | Jump to...
Ep. 393 – The Standard Model, Leptons & Quarks
Physicists are getting a handle on the structure of the Universe, how everything is made of something else. Molecules are made of atoms, atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons, etc. Even smaller than that are the quarks and the leptons, which seem to be the...
Ep. 392: The Standard Model – Intro
Humans, cars and planets are made of molecules. And molecules are made of atoms. Atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. What are they made of? This is the standard model of particle physics, which explains how everything is put together and the forces that...
Ep. 391: Entropy
Have you ever been doing thermodynamics in a closed system and noticed that there’s a finite number of ways that things can be arranged, and they tend towards disorder? Of course you have, we all have. That’s entropy. And here in our Universe, entropy is on the rise....
Ep. 390: Occam’s Razor and the Problem with Probabilities
I’m not saying it’s aliens, but it’s aliens. Actually, it’s almost certainly not aliens, or a wormhole, or a multiverse. When scientists discover something unusual, they make guesses about what’s happening. But Occam’s Razor encourages us to consider the probabilities...
Ep. 389: Roundtable with Paul Sutter
While Pamela and Fraser were at Ohio State University for a symposium in October, they caught up with Paul M. Sutter from Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, who is a visiting scholar at the OSU Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics. His specialty is cosmic...
Ep 388: Megastructures
This week astronomers announced an unusual transit signal from another star. Although it’s most likely a natural phenomenon, one remote possibility is that this is some kind of alien mega-structure. Freeman Dyson and others have considered this idea for decades. Today...
Ep 387: Water on Mars… Again
Have you heard the big news? NASA has reported that Mark Watney is alive and well on the surface of Mars. No, wait, they’ve reported that there’s water on Mars. Didn’t they already report this? Today we’ll update you on the latest discovery and what this means for the...
Ep 386: Orbiting Observers
The atmosphere keeps us alive and breathing, but it really sucks for astronomy. Fortunately, humanity has built and launched space telescopes that get above the pesky atmosphere, where the skies are really clear. Let’s take a look at the past, current and future of...
Ep 385: Rovers on the Run
Taking pictures of distant worlds is great and all, but the best science happens with boots on the ground. Or in this case... wheels. This week we'll talk all about robotic rovers and the places they rove. Download the show [MP3] | Jump to Shownotes | Jump to...
Ep. 384: Escaping Probes
The gravity of the Earth is a tough thing to escape, but breaking free from the gravity of the Sun is on a whole other level. But humans have achieved this amazing accomplishment, and right now there are several spacecraft leaving the Solar System and never coming...
Ep. 383: Approaches to Absolute Zero
The coldest possible theoretical temperature is Absolute Zero, this is the point at which no further energy can be extracted from a system. How are physicists working to get as close as possible to this extreme cold? Download the show [MP3] | Jump to Shownotes | Jump...