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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Ep. 174: Mysteries of the Solar System, Part 1
We know a lot about our Solar System, but there's ...
We know a lot about our Solar System, but there's an awful lot that's a complete and total mystery. Today we're going to begin a series of unknown length examining some of these mysteries, and explain the best theories astronomers have so far.
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Ep. 173: Herschel Space Observatory
Last week we talked about Herschel the people – William ...
Last week we talked about Herschel the people – William Herschel, his sister Caroline, and his son John. This week we look at the Herschel Space Observatory, a mission launched in 2009 to reveal the coldest and dustiest regions in the Universe.
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Ep. 172: William Herschel
Ancient astronomers knew of 5 planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter ...
Ancient astronomers knew of 5 planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - 6 if you count Earth. But then in 1781, William Herschel discovered an entirely new planet, boosting the number of planets to 7. Let's learn about Herschel, his equipment, h
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Ep. 171: Solar System Movements and Positions
Even in ancient times, astronomers realized there was something different ...
Even in ancient times, astronomers realized there was something different about the planets - they move! The movement of the planets and their moons are governed by gravity. And as we all know, gravity can do some funny things.
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Ep. 170: Coordinate Systems
This is going to be one of those weeks where ...
This is going to be one of those weeks where we tackle something you're mentally avoiding. You know all those astronomical terms, like alt-azimuth, right ascension and declination, arc seconds and arc minutes? Of course not, your mind has blocked them out
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Ep. 169: Fermi Mission
Last week we talked about Fermi the man, now we're ...
Last week we talked about Fermi the man, now we're going to talk about Fermi the space telescope. That's right, Enrico Fermi made such an impact in the astronomy and physics community that he got a space telescope named after him. Let's take a look at wha
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Ep. 168: Enrico Fermi
Today's episode of Astronomy Cast is about another famous physicist: ...
Today's episode of Astronomy Cast is about another famous physicist: Enrico Fermi. We've already taken a look at one of Fermi's most famous ideas, the Fermi Paradox - or, where are all the aliens? But let's meet the man behind the ideas, the namesake for
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Ep. 167: Future Civilizations
Let's assume that humans survive the next few hundred years ...
Let's assume that humans survive the next few hundred years without destroying ourselves, or the planet, and we actually become a space faring civilization. What kinds of challenges will we face, and what projects will we build to expand ourselves out int
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Ep. 166: Multiverses
What if our universe was just one in an infinite ...
What if our universe was just one in an infinite number of parallel universes; a possible outcome from the specific predictions of quantum mechanics. The idea of multiple universes is common in science fiction, but is there any actual science to back this
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Ep. 165: Doppler Effect
You know how a police siren changes sound when it ...
You know how a police siren changes sound when it passes by you? That's the doppler effect. It works for sound waves and it works for light waves. Astronomers use the doppler effect to study the motion of objects across the Universe, from nearby extrasola
