Ep. 564: Mini Moons
Last month astronomers announced that they had detected a tiny asteroid that had been captured by the Earth’s gravity well and had been sharing our orbit for a few years. Today, let’s talk about the smallest moons in the Solar System.
Ep. 563: White Dwarf Mergers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUiGEfdJsK4 White dwarfs are usually about 60% the mass of the Sun, so it was a bit of a surprise when astronomers found one that was almost exactly twice that. What happens when white dwarfs merge? Download MP3| Download Raw Show with...
Ep. 562: Dealing with COVID-19 and the Changes it will Bring
Pamela and Fraser discuss the implications of COVID-19 and it’s changes on the world, and what we all can do during this time.
Ep. 561: Remembering Katherine Johnson
We lost a bright star here on planet Earth last week. NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away at the age of 101, after an incredible career of helping humans land on the Moon. If you saw the movie Hidden Figures, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Ep. 560: Betelgeuse
You might be surprised to hear that we’ve never done an episode of Astronomy Cast featuring Betelgeuse. Well, good news, this is that episode. Let’s talk about the star, why it might be dimming, and what could happen if it explodes as a supernova.
Ep. 559: The Surface of the Sun
A brand new telescope has completed on Maui’s Haleakala, and it has just one job: to watch the Sun in unprecedented detail. It’s called the Daniel K. Inouye telescope, and the engineering involved to get this telescope operational are matched by the incredible resolution of its first images.
Ep. 558: Supernova SN 2006gy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJQFrgxlmus We've been following this story for more than a decade, so it's great to finally have an answer to the question, why was supernova 2006gy so insanely bright? Astronomers originally thought it was an example of a supermassive...
Ep. 557: Red Dwarfs: Friend or Foe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh1Ocfgmptc On the one hand, red dwarfs are the longest lived stars in the Universe, the perfect place for life to hang out for trillions of years. On the other hand, they're tempestuous little balls of plasma, hurling out catastrophic...
Ep. 556: Multi Messenger Astronomy
For the longest time astronomers could only study the skies with telescopes. But then new techniques and technologies were developed to help us see in different wavelengths. Now astronomers can study objects in both visible light, neutrinos, gravitational waves and more. The era of multi-messenger astronomy is here.
Ep. 555: Satellite Constellations and the Future of Astronomy
The other big issue at the AAS was the challenge that astronomy is going to face from all the new satellite constellations coming shortly. There are already 180 Starlinks in orbit, and thousands more are coming, not to mention the other constellations in the works. What will be the impact on astronomy, and what can we do about it?