Under the Same Stars: Ancient Astronomy

Under the Same Stars: Ancient Astronomy

The week of June 15th to the 21st includes a waning Moon approaching perigee, a lineup of bright planets at both dusk and dawn, and the breathtaking rise of the Milky Way’s galactic core in the southeastern night sky.

But we’re also turning back the celestial clock. To honor the summer solstice on June 21st, the longest day of the year. We’ll explore how ancient cultures around the world used the sky to tell time, navigate, worship, and survive. From Stonehenge’s solar alignment to the jaw-dropping mechanics of the Antikythera device, we’ll journey through the earliest forms of astronomy and the tools that shaped humanity’s understanding of the cosmos.

Along the way, we’ll marvel at Polynesian star compasses, Babylonian eclipse charts, Chinese supernova records, and the mythological constellations that connected skywatchers across continents.

For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.

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Episoder(127)

The Moon That Sends Us Its Ocean

The Moon That Sends Us Its Ocean

Saturn has a moon with a hidden ocean, and that ocean is spraying samples of itself into space.Enceladus is only about 310 miles wide, but beneath its brilliant shell of ice lies a global saltwater oc...

11 Okt 34min

A Black Hole Is Pointing at Us

A Black Hole Is Pointing at Us

A black hole in our galaxy appears to be aiming a relativistic jet almost directly toward Earth. That sounds like a reasonably good opening line for October.The object, IRAS 18293−0941, is a binary sy...

4 Okt 29min

There Was a Planet That Swallowed a Moon

There Was a Planet That Swallowed a Moon

What if Venus once had a moon, and then destroyed it?A new study suggests that under plausible conditions, an ancient Venusian moon could have slowly migrated inward, crossed the Roche limit and ultim...

27 Sep 32min

Dyson Spheres: The Heat Has to Go Somewhere

Dyson Spheres: The Heat Has to Go Somewhere

What if the first evidence of an advanced alien civilization isn’t a message, but a star whose energy books don’t quite balance?This week, we explore the strange history and surprisingly real science ...

13 Sep 23min

Rivers Through the Dark

Rivers Through the Dark

Galaxies carry the evidence of their past. When the Milky Way captures a dwarf galaxy or tears apart a globular cluster, it leaves behind long, ghostly ribbons of stars called stellar streams. These s...

6 Sep 27min

Little Red Dots at Cosmic Dawn

Little Red Dots at Cosmic Dawn

The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered hundreds of tiny red points in the early universe. They are extraordinarily compact, unexpectedly bright and strangely quiet in the X-ray and radio wavelen...

30 Aug 27min

Did the Milky Way Flip?

Did the Milky Way Flip?

The Milky Way looks permanent from our place inside it, a great band of stars stretching across the night sky. But new research suggests our galaxy may once have been oriented in a completely differen...

16 Aug 35min

When Black Holes Twist Spacetime

When Black Holes Twist Spacetime

What happens when a black hole spins? According to general relativity, it doesn't simply rotate in space, it actually drags spacetime around with it.This episode explores the strange phenomenon known ...

2 Aug 38min

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