148: Solving an Apollo mystery with Dr. Curren
When taking a sample of the Moon's surface, the Apollo astronauts discovered a sharp transition from powdery soil to harder rock. This transition was entirely unexpected, and remained unexplained for ...
7 Apr 201915min
147: Searching for extraterrestrial life with Dr. Seager
Dr. Seager explains how she and other astronomers are looking for extraterrestrial life. We discuss the Drake and Seager equations. We also talk about how astronomers might be able to detect life by m...
24 Mars 201919min
146: Our place the universe with Dr. Lanz
Dr. Alicia Lanz talks about the history of astronomical instrumentation, starting with the first telescope. She describes some bizarre historical telescopes and shares a surprisingly inspirational sto...
10 Mars 201931min
145: Backyard Worlds with Prof. Allers
Professor Katelyn Allers talks about how you can discover small cold stars! She is a member of the Backyard Worlds project, which is a collaboration between astronomers and citizen scientists. This pr...
24 Feb 201923min
144: Deflecting asteroids with Brent Barbee
Brent Barbee returns to the show to talk about deflecting asteroids. He explains how an asteroid might react to an impact, and also talks about the proposed DART mission, which would change the orbit ...
10 Feb 201920min
143: Telescope robots with Dr. Ramirez
Dr. Solange Ramirez returns to the show to talk about her new position as Project Manager of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V. Amount other things, the project will study over six million stars and how ...
27 Jan 201927min
142: The biggest clock with Rob Seaman
Rob Seaman of the Catalina Sky Survey talks about time, and why you need to know the time to discover asteroids and comets. He explains how he installed a highly accurate clock, and makes the case tha...
13 Jan 201917min
141: Eyes on the back of your head with Dr. Tholen
Dr. Dave Tholen talks about near-Earth asteroids. He explains why they can be difficult to observe, and how he manages to spot them anyway. He also tells the story of a particularly famous asteroid th...
30 Dec 201836min
