Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Cast offers you a fact based journey through the cosmos. Each week Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and Dr. Pamela Gay (SIUE / Slacker Astronomy) take on topics ranging from the nearby planets to ubiquitous dark matter.
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Episode 204: Temperature
Now we're going to answer a question that a 4-year ...
Now we're going to answer a question that a 4-year old might ask - what is temperature? Why are things hot and why are they cold? How hot or cold can they get? And how is this all important for astronomy?
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Episode 203: Europa
Europa is the smallest of the Jovian satellites, but it ...
Europa is the smallest of the Jovian satellites, but it might be one of the most exciting spots in the Solar System. When NASA’s Voyager spacecraft flew past the moon, they discovered huge cracks in its icy surface. Is it possible that Europa has a huge o
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Episode 202: The Planets at Gliese 581
With the discovery of a planet in the habitability zone ...
With the discovery of a planet in the habitability zone of Gliese 581, the chances of finding life on other worlds is just getting better and better. Let’s take a look at the discoveries made at Gliese 581, provide some perspective on the real chances of
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Episode 201: Titan
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, and the second largest moon ...
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, and the second largest moon in the Solar System. It’s unique in the Solar System as the only moon with an atmosphere. In fact, scientists think that Titan’s thick atmosphere – rich in hydrocarbons – is similar to the early
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Episode 200: The Mariner Program
The first interplanetary series of missions was the American Mariner ...
The first interplanetary series of missions was the American Mariner program. These successful spacecraft visited Mercury, Venus, and Mars, and laid the groundwork for the US missions to the outer planets. Let's take a look at the program and their incred
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Episode 199: The Voyager Program
Launched in 1977, the twin Voyager spacecraft were sent to ...
Launched in 1977, the twin Voyager spacecraft were sent to explore the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Because of a unique alignment of the planets, Voyager 2 was the first spacecraft to ever make a close approach to Uranus and Neptune
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Episode 198: How is a Space Mission Chosen?
Space missions are expensive to build and launch, so there’s ...
Space missions are expensive to build and launch, so there’s a lot of planning that goes into choosing exactly what’s going to be shot into space. Space scientists and engineers recently went through the process of deciding on their science goals, so we t
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Ep. 197: Astronomy Cast Live from Dragon*Con 2010
In this special live Dragon*Con 2010 episode of Astronomy Cast ...
In this special live Dragon*Con 2010 episode of Astronomy Cast we welcomed special guest Les Johnson, Deputy Manager for NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office to talk about the state of human space exploration. And then we opened up the show to some amazing que
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Ep. 196: Luminosity and Magnitude
Astronomers measure the brightness of stars as magnitude. But this ...
Astronomers measure the brightness of stars as magnitude. But this brightness depends on the distance to the star as well as the total amount of energy it's pumping out into space. And from our vantage point here on Earth, appearances can be deceiving.
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Ep. 195: Planetary Rings
Saturn is best known for its rings. This huge and ...
Saturn is best known for its rings. This huge and beautiful ring system is easy to spot in even the smallest backyard telescope, so you can imagine they were a surprise when Galileo first noticed them. But astronomers have gone on to find rings around the
