The 365 Days of Astronomy

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. actualastronomy@gmail.com

This month in episode 528 we talk about 3 Comets, two of which may end up being very bright. We also touch on some colorful double and carbon stars. There are many spring spirals we help listeners find as well as the Lyrid Meteor shower. This month the Moon pairs with Spica, Antares and the planets and at mid-Month a very young moon is visible for some listeners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCqU0nz6iFU

Hosted by Fraser Cain.

From May 21, 2019.

On Monday, May 13, 2019, NASA declared: "We are going to the Moon to stay" by 2024. It's an exciting announcement; the return to a place humans haven't set foot on in more than 45 years. A serious goal that will test the ability of technology and engineering, as well as the bravery of the men and women who will carry out this task.

But we've also heard announcements like this before, many times. How will the mission c...

Today's guest: Dr. Richard Tresch Fienberg, astronomer and science communicator, recently served as the Expert Astronomer for Sky & Telescope's September 2025 Astronomy Tour. In our interview, we explore "Galileo's Italy" with him. Though enjoying retirement, he volunteers his time for the American Astronomical Society as Senior Advisor to the CEO, and is a Senior Contributing Editor with Sky & Telescope. This is the second of two episodes covering our interview.

H'ad astra historia is the official podcast for the Historical Astronomy Division (https://had.aas.org/) of the American Astronomical Society. We're here to share stories from a...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJNpipCncKA

Hosted by: Fraser Cain ( @frasercain ) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay ( @CosmoQuest )

Streamed live on Mar 23, 2026.

The theory of evolution how life takes on its wildly different forms. But how did life get started in the first place? It appears the Universe has been making life's molecules in space for billions of years, setting up the conditions for life… everywhere? One of humanity's fundamental questions is "where does life come from." We can't answer that question, but we can tell you where some of the stuff of li...

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 September 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- Dr. Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office reports that on June 26, 2025 shortly after noon a beachball sized meteoroid traveling at approximately 30,000 miles per hour broke up about 27 miles above the town of West Forrest, Georgia.

- Astronomers have discovered some 1.4 million asteroids. Approximately 35,000 of these space rocks come near Earth. Less than 40 of them a...

From March 18, 2026.

This episode went through a lot of rewrites as breaking news kept breaking our hearts. Artemis is still on, but there are delays and cancellations. Before we face that, let's look at some pretty pictures and remember the universe is pretty even when our Earthly-timeline is not.

JWST Wolf-Rayet stars pix: 

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/wolf-rayet-apep-miri-image/

Exposed Cranium Nebula:

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/exposed-cranium-nebula-nircam-and-miri-images/

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support edi...

Hosted and sponsored by Andy Poniros.

Veteran of more than 590 days in space on Shuttle, Soyuz, & ISS missions NASA Astronaut, Don Pettit. Don discusses his space missions, the upcoming Artemis II mission, as well as his amazing inventions & photography from space. 

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!

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Ever...

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Bringing it home. Cheap Astronomy digs in to asteroid mining.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Are rubble pile asteroids easier to mine?

Rubble pile asteroids are a collection of rocks that have accreted together under their mutual gravity, but the object they form isn't massive enough for gravity to compress it into one unified object. Instead, the rocks that gather together remain as individual rocks. So, from a mining perspective there's an advantage in that you can just pick up those individual rocks without needing drilling or explosives. 

De...

Paul Hill & Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. 

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

Our chatty astrowaffle episode this month (March Part 2) is all about the Artemis re-jig and what the future now holds for the program. Oh, and an update on Jeni's drains.

Cafuego's Jellyfish:

https://app.astrobin.com/u/cafuego?i=zdl9yu

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 muc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY1_q9a0UFc

Hosted by: Fraser Cain ( @frasercain ) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay ( @CosmoQuest )

Streamed live on Mar 16, 2026.

Main sequence stars spend most of their time being… normal. Fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. Producing radiation. But as their stockpiles of hydrogen run out they switch to other fuels, starting to climb the ladder of the periodic table of elements. And this is when things get weird. As we get more and more observations of the cosmos, our understanding gets more detailed. In this episode we...

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 September 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- On a short June night my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard was observing with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona in the constellation of Ursa Major when a relatively bright fast moving point of light appeared in a set of his images. Even though on its current path Greg's discovery, 2025 MM89, has virtually no chance of impacting...

In this episode of Dark Sky Guardian, we learn how thoughtful lighting can reduce glare, save energy, protect wildlife, and restore our connection to the night sky.

"ASTROMAN: the Dark Sky Guardian" is a podcast channel that aims to explore popular science in multiple disciplines and research on interdisciplinary approaches, such as sustainability, dark-sky protection, astrophotography, space exploration, astronomy innovation, inclusive science communication, and STEAM Education by integrating science and arts.

Exodus CL Sit, also known as the ASTROMAN, is a transmedia astronomy educator, popular science author, STEAM educator, and science co...

https://cosmoquest.org/x/dailyspace/2020/01/07/planets-stars-and-death-to-dark-energy/

From January 7, 2020.

The Hubble Space Telescope continues to give us amazing views and science, 30 years later. Here are a couple of new stories that help us appreciate this amazing tool of science.

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...

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. actualastronomy@gmail.com

A listener builds their dream observatory on Episode 529 of the Actual Astronomy podcast. I'm Chris and joining me is Shane. We are amateur astronomers who love looking up at the night sky and this podcast is for everyone who enjoys going out under the stars.

We have a special guest joining us today, listener Kevin Duchscherer is joining us to share his Observatory Progress.

...

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Cheap Astronomy asks what's the point and then gets some sunshine.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Did the Universe start from a single point?

This hypothetical concept is commonly stated in pop science blogs and we are guilty of doing the same here at Cheap Astronomy. However, it's not necessarily correct. As with most things relating to the Universe, all we can really talk about is the observable Universe. All evidence available does suggest that it emerged from a point source 13.8 billion years ago, but if the actual Universe is bigger th...

Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.

What do we find when we push the James Webb Space Telescope to its limits? Are Little Red Dots newborn galaxies or old black holes? What are they teaching us about the early Universe? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!

Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter

All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com

Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter

Read a book: https://www.pmsutter.com/books

Keep those qu...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y-ST_az9c

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Mar 9, 2026.

You think the Sun is a terrifying ball of fire and fury? Wait until you learn about today's topic: Wolf-Rayet stars! These are massive, dying stars hurling their outer layers out into space before detonating as supernovae. Big stars live brief lives, and Wolf-Rayet stars are the punctuation mark we see before things go supernova. 

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Yinuo Han (Ca...

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 August 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- In a recent study Dr. Lynnane George and her co-authors investigate Space Elevator technology to remove materials from Ceres and deliver them to orbital depots around the solar system. The tiny gravity of Ceres, nano-fiber technology, and different water propulsion systems are utilized by Dr. George and her team to construct theoretically possible systems which would extract raw materials f...

The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration collected information on hundreds of millions of galaxies across the Universe using the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at CTIO, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. Their completed analysis combines all six years of data for the first time and yields constraints on the Universe's expansion history that are twice as tight as past analyses. In this podcast, Dr. Yuanyuan Zhang discusses the Dark Energy Survey results and how they inform the next steps in dark energy research.

From Sep 9, 2022.

As global temperatures rise, Earth observations show that glaciers are retreating and ice sheets are melting everywhere from Greenland to Antarctica while regions of the Arctic are getting greener. Plus, collaborations lead to new Mars and exoplanet discoveries, several rockets launched, and this week's What's Up involves Dr. Brian May of Queen.

JWST Tarantula Nebula image:

https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/tarantula-nebula-nircam-image/

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. 

Just visit: htt...

Hosted by our Director, Avivah Yamani.

Explore the story behind astronomical magnitude, from Hipparchus and Ptolemy to modern photometry, and learn why brighter stars have smaller numbers.

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!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=598UtgxFd1E

From Jan 6, 2019.

The distances between stars are so vast, it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Even our far flung Voyagers have barely reached interstellar space, and would take tens of thousands of years to get to even the nearest star.

But scientists and engineers are considering what it would actually take to send a spacecraft to another star. It's called Project Dragonfly, and would use existing or near future technologies to send a 3,000 kg spacecraft to Alpha Centauri within 100 years. 

...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Uoy4BCs24

Hosted by Tony Darnell.

From May 16, 2025.

Join this channel to get access to special content including livestreams:

In July 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope made its public debut with a series of breathtaking images. Among them was an ethereal landscape nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering realm of star birth is the subject of a new 3D visualization derived from the Webb data. The visualization, created by NASA's Universe of Learning and titled "Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D," breathes new l...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3Pxmo1YLc

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain ) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest )

Streamed live March 6, 2026.

Magnetars are a special type of neutron star with physics that defy comprehension. Magnetic fields so powerful they could strip you apart at an atomic level. But, where do they come from? So many mysteries to uncover about magnetars. Back in December 2004, a gamma rays washed out cameras and zotted satellites as a star on the other side of the Milky Way shifted around its magnetic fields. Magnetars are violent...

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 August 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- Big Bear Solar Observatory is a unique facility operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Its 1.6 meter Goode Solar Telescope is located on the north side of Big Bear Lake at an elevation of 6,760 feet above sea level in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. Being surrounded by cold water at high altitude provides the site with ex...

Hosted by our Director, Avivah Yamani.

A guide to March 2026 sky events from Indonesia, featuring the total lunar eclipse on March 3rd, planetary conjunctions, the March equinox, and dark sky campaigns.

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!

------------------------------------

Do...

From February 25, 2026.

The glaciers are melting, the volcanoes are erupting, and earthquakes are shaking things up. Let's discuss.

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!

------------------------------------

Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cas...

Episode 524.

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. actualastronomy@gmail.com

This month we talk about another Comet, colorful doubles, Mira at maximum. We also have one of the brightest clusters in the skies, the Beehive, well placed while the Moon meets with Antares then Regulus.

End of Feb. beginning of March Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos 6th – 7th magnitude

Mar 1 – Struve 1183 Monoceros – Colorful Double

Mar 2 – Regulus .4° S of Moon

Mar 3 –...

Paul Hill and Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. 

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

March episode part 1.

This month it is the curious case of a vanishing star and galaxies that shine no light…plus our monthly skyguide and Jeni has a blocked drain!

Also: https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/alma-creates-largest-ever-image-of-the-milky-ways-core/

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 c...

Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.

How can anyone agree on the age of the Universe? And how can we be so confident if it's all just a bunch of models? What if the Universe is extra lumpy, does that change anything? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!

Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter

All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com

Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter

Read a book: https://www.pmsutter.com/books

Ke...

Off label uses for Pulsars…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XMJBiJao6M

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Feb 16, 2026.

Pulsars are dead stars and fascinating in their own right, but astronomers can use their predictable rotation for exploring the cosmos in a series of amazing ways. We can detect gravitational waves, navigate the solar system, test general relativity and find exoplanets. Pulsars are the time keepers of the sky, with their precise ticking allowing researchers to track gravitational waves, find exotic planets, an...

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 July & August 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- After the Earth the Sun is the most important object for human beings in the Universe.  It is the energy source which produces our food and is the source for all of the energy and motion around us except for geothermal and nuclear energy sources. The Sun is normally well behaved the exception being solar storms which can d...

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize, Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela, Dr. Daniel Cunnama & François Campher

With Tumelo Mangena, Leyya Stockenstroom and Ndivhuwo Netshiavha.

In this episode, we hear from three postgraduate astronomy students from the University of Cape Town about their worldly adventures during a research trip to the University of Oxford in the UK!

PhD student Tumelo Mangena and Masters students Leyya Stockenstroom and Ndivhuwo Netshiavha are part of the RADHIANCE research group led by our very own Jacinta Delhaize! They use world-leading telescopes, like South Africa's MeerKAT, to examine the li...

From April 15, 2022.

An analysis of microscopic features in rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt in Quebec, Canada, which date back between 3.75 and 4.28 billion years, finds evidence of possible microbial life. Plus, a supermassive black hole precursor, temperatures on Neptune, check-ins with various spacecraft, and our weekly What's Up segment.

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 th...

Today we're talking with Dr. Richard Tresch Fienberg (https://aas.org/press/richard-tresch-fienberg), astronomer and science communicator, who shares his experiences as Expert Astronomer on Sky & Telescope magazine's September 2025 Astronomy Tour to "Galileo's Italy." Though enjoying retirement, he volunteers his time for the American Astronomical Society as Senior Advisor to the CEO, and is a Senior Contributing Editor with Sky & Telescope. This is the first of two episodes covering our interview.

Loretta Cannon (an AAS affiliate via Rose City Astronomers) is a science-and-word-nerd who really likes outer space and the people who study it. She q...

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Cheap Astronomy investigates things that haven't happened yet.

- Dear Cheap Astronomy: When will the Sun destroy the Earth and can we stop it?

- Dear Cheap Astronomy: Will we ever meet aliens? 

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! 

Ever...

Paul Hill and Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. 

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

February Episode Part 2.

This episode we chat about the potential ozone hole issue caused by mega constellations, how Jupiter has shrunk and what Aurora would look like when Earth's poles flip.

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 fri...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFgfN2B_k4

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Feb 16, 2026.

There are many types of variable stars. Today we're gonna talk about cataclysmic variable stars, which are the result of a white dwarf stealing material from a companion star. And this whole process makes supervillain Pamela happy. Gravity is the weakest force, but on the scales of stars, it is capable of great violence. In this episode, we look at the wild physics of cataclysmic variables: binary star systems...

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 July 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- Recently my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Dr. Hannes Gröller and I traveled to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument to install two night sky meters which will enable this wonderful national treasure to become an international dark sky park. Surrounded by vast tracts of unoccupied public land and having an abundance of clear weather the Gila Cliff Dwellings N...