From May 6, 2021. Researchers find that the “oddball supernova” of a curiously cool, yellow star was lacking the hydrogen content expected, “stretching what is physically possible.” Plus, finding potentially habitable planets, a gamma ray burst, ash clouds, and a new lunar map in this week’s What’s Up.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bi ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmxcvbb0clM Ralph Wilkins hosts.  Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. From  Aug 5, 2022. Blue Origin rocket developments seem to have been in development for decades. They've only just got their sub-orbital New Shepard rocket launching and, even now, they aren't launching that often. Their orbital New Glenn rocket keeps getting delayed and might even be obsolete to SpaceX rockets if it ever delivers.   With Elon Musk's SpaceX leading the way in commercial spaceflight and Branson's Virgin Galactic offering an alternative, has ..read more

Blowing off some steam. Read by Barry Haworth and Duranee, written by Steve Nerlich, with technical advice from Stephen D'Souza.   - The orbit equation: There are several orbit equations around, but this orbit equation tells you what orbital velocity you need to maintain an orbit at a particular altitude.   - Entropy and the Inequality of Clausius: Getting to this formula requires a bit of a story, but it’s worth it as it ends up explaining which direction the Universe is moving in. The conversion of heat, a form of energy, into work dates back to ancient Roman times, although heat e ..read more

From August 17, 2023. According to the NASA exoplanet archive, HAT-P-67 b holds the distinction of being the largest exoplanet in terms of size.  With exoplanet classification, one always needs to be careful - especially when it comes to size and mass - because there is a fuzzy boundary with large planets where if they become too large, they are considered a brown dwarf star.  This is a body that almost made it to star status but doesn’t have enough mass or material for nuclear fusion to take place.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, h ..read more

From June 23, 2008. We’re learned about the failed missions to Mars in the past, and the current spacecraft, rovers and landers currently exploring the Red Planet. But the real prize will come when the first human sets foot on Mars. Robots are cheaper, but nothing beats having a real human being on the scene, to search for evidence of water and life.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and ..read more

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org From Feb 13 & March 22, 2019. Today's 2 topics: - My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Hannes Groeller was asteroid hunting with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona when he discovered his first comet: P/2019 B2 (Groeller). After the Sun bakes out all of the frozen gasses, Hannes's Comet, will lose its coma and tail and become indistinguishable from one of the millions of main belt as ..read more

https://spacescoop.org/en/scoops/2035/a-missing-ingredient/ From September 10, 2020. The Universe is full of unanswered questions. And more than a few unquestioned answers! One of the biggest questions astronomers are trying to answer is what is the Universe made of? OK, sure, we know about protons, neutrons & electrons already.   But astronomers also know that the Universe is full of dark matter, but we still don’t fully understand it…Dark matter is a mysterious and peculiar material that got its name because it doesn’t give off any light - it’s totally invisible at wavelengths our e ..read more

From September 28, 2021. The inner solar system was a wild and wooly place as the planets were forming, and new research shows that the collisions that formed Earth and Venus were likely of the hit-and-run variety. Plus, polar ice loss warps the planet, and a black hole eats a star. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you ..read more

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. actualastronomy@gmail.com Mike Lynch grew up in Richfied, Minnesota. After two years at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities he transferred to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and earned his B.S. degree in Meteorology. Shortly after he was hired as a broadcast meteorologist at WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and has been there for over 30 years. Mike has covered all kinds of weather from deadly tornados to record cold snaps. In fact on February 2nd, 1996, he broadcasted from Tower, Minnesota when the ..read more

Dr. Jenifer “Dr. Dust” Millard hosts solo!  Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. Celebrating 55 years since humans first set foot on the Moon with Project Apollo, in this podcast extra, Dr. Jen meets with Benoit Faiveley and Mario Freese, founder and chief engineer of Sanctuary on the Moon, a daring project to leave a legacy of humanity on our nearest celestial neighbour.    In the late 2020s, 24 coaster-sized sapphire disks will sail to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis CLPS program. Engraved upon them will be the essence of humanity. One hundred billion p ..read more