Ep. 225: Ice in Space
A huge part of the Solar System is just made of ice. There are comets, rings, moons and even dwarf planets. Where did all this ice come from, and what impact (pardon the pun) has it had for life on Earth?
Ep. 224: Orion
Most people know how to find two constellations: the Big Dipper, and Orion the Hunter. You can teach a small child to find Orion, and at the right time of year, they’ll find it in seconds. There’s so much going on in this spectacular constellation, from the star formation in the Orion Nebula to mighty red supergiant Betelgeuse, ready to explode. Let’s learn about the history and science of the constellation Orion.
Ep. 223: The Transit of Venus
Since the planet Venus is closer in to the Sun than Earth, there are rare opportunities to see it pass directly in front of our parent star. This is known as a planetary transit, and thanks to the geometry of the Earth and Venus, they only happen a couple of times a century. The transits of Venus have been used by astronomers to unlock the scale of the Solar System, and there’s another one just around the corner.
Ep. 222: The Decadal Survey
In episode 198 we explained how space missions are chosen, and introduced the Decadal Survey. Since the time we recorded that episode, the full Decadal Survey for planetary science has been released, explaining the science goals for planetary geologists over the next 10 years. We thought we’d take an episode and give you an overview of all the science coming your way.
Ep. 221: Geomorphology
When we look around our planet, we see a huge variety in landforms: mountains, valleys, plateaus, and more. Continents rise and fall over the eons, providing geologists with a history of the planet’s evolution. The study of these changes is known as geomorphology, and the lessons we learn here on Earth apply to the other objects in the Solar System.
Ep. 220: Mass Extinction Events
The Earth seems like a safe place, most of the time. But we have evidence of terrible catastrophes in the ancient past. Times when almost all life on Earth was wiped out in a geologic instant. What could have caused so much devastation? And will something like this happen again?
Ep. 219: Planck Mission
Another mission named after a famous physicist. This time we’re looking at the Planck mission, designed to study the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation over the entire sky. Like the previous WMAP mission, this will help astronomers understand the first moments after the Big Bang.
Ep. 218: Max Planck
It’s time for another action-packed double episode, where we meet a man and his mission. This time around its German physicist Max Planck, considered to be the father of quantum theory – he was later granted a Nobel Prize for just that discovery. Let’s take a trip back just over 100 years to learn about the man who changed our understanding of the very small.
Ep. 217: Stellar Classification
Have you ever heard an astronomer utter these words? Oh be a fine girl and kiss me. They’re not being romantic, they’re trying to remember the different ways to organize stars, as detailed nicely on a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Let’s learn what all those letters mean, and what differentiates a type-O star from a type-G.
Ep. 216: Archaeoastronomy
The Sun, Moon, stars and planets are visible to the unaided eye, and so they have been visible to astronomers since before recorded history. Some of the earliest records we do have tell us what the ancient astronomers thought about the heavens, and how they used the changing night sky in their daily lives.