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

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. 

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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...

Episode 14.

Our Sun is more than a glowing ball in the sky. It's a dynamic, ever-changing star at the peak of its solar cycle. In this episode of ASTROMAN: The Dark Sky Guardian, we learn how to safely observe sunspots and solar flares, and why studying solar activity helps protect satellites, power grids, and even predicts auroras.

"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, a...

In this episode, we take a closer look at how the increasing number of rockets and satellites going up mean there is also an unfortunate increase in the space junk coming down. We also cover dramatic weather, stars dying and disappearing, and update you on Maven and Paranal Observatory.

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 li...

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. actualastronomy@gmail.com

Episode 522.

Continuing on with our 2026 resolution we have a special guest listener joining us today.

Richard Navarette is a long time amateur astronomer from the San Francisco Bay Area where he has been instrumental in getting people out observing through The Astronomy Connection, well known as "TAC". Richard has owned 20+ telescopes over the years and while he has enjoyed viewing through many large instruments his personal collection has mostly been focused on portable, affordable gear.

W...

Astronomers just found something cool! 

Typically, most Sun-like stars host planets between the size of Earth and Neptune called 'super-Earths' or 'sub-Neptunes'. These planets often orbit their stars even closer than Mercury orbits our Sun. They're mostly rocky super-Earths or they have a thick atmosphere and a rocky core and are sub-Neptunes. They're the most common types of planet found in our Galaxy. And yet, astronomers weren't sure exactly how these planets formed. 

So yeah, they found something cool! 

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

Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.

Why is math so effective at describing the Universe? What is reality is made of math? What does it mean for us to be conscious beings in a mathematical structure? 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 questions about space, science, as...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVvY9HGss8E

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

Streamed live on Feb 13, 2026.

Modern astronomy has found that the Universe can surprise us. Here's one which astronomers have called Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients. They're kinda like supernovas, they're kind of like gamma ray bursts, but they're not like them. So what are they? In the distant Universe, are blue light flashes, bright and hard to understand. These objects, uncreatively named "Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients," are just the kind of puzzle...

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 June & July 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- In 2016 NASA created the Planetary Defense Coordination Office to manage the mission of finding, tracking, and studying asteroids and comets which could pose an impact threat to our home planet.The NASA documentary "Planetary Defenders" provides an excellent over view and can be streamed on the internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOb2DQWvDvc

Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been found in a massive cloud that dimmed the light of a star for nearly nine months. This discovery, made with the Gemini South telescope in Chile offers a rare glimpse into the chaotic and dynamic processes still shaping planetary systems long after their formation. In this podcast, Dr. Nadia Zakamska describes the discovery of this object, stemming from a mysterious dimming of a star, to the analysis of the gas cloud.

Bios:

- Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF's NOIRLab i...

From May 21, 2020.

Join us today as we discuss the impressive work by an undergraduate student who figured out how galaxy mergers influence the growth of supermassive black holes. We talk about a gigantic galaxy found in the early universe. And finally, we look at amazing images of a planet being formed around a distant star.

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 po...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Alz4UXGqLk

From March 8, 2017.

In just a few months, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is going to die, crashing into the planet Saturn. Let's look back across the mission's history. What were the highlights? What did we learn?

Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com

Karla Thompson - @karlaii

Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com

Ask me my favorite object in the Solar System, especially to see through a telescope, and my answer is always the same: Sa...

A podcast about rocks, big and small.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – What's Psyche really like?

Psyche is an asteroid in the asteroid belt and apparently a very metal rich one, which makes it a prospecting target for budding asteroid miners. Pysche is also a spacecraft, launched on October 13, 2023. We're recording this episode about one month after launch when it's already over 15 million km from Earth – and its destination? Yep, Psyche – the asteroid.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – How is Mars Sample Return mission going?

Here at Cheap Astronomy we've often said that landing o...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7FAg_AYXaw

From April 14, 2025.

Astronomers using the JWST have made direct observations of the black hole at the center of our galaxy: Sagittarius A*.  These observations are possible because the Webb Space Telescope can peer through the dust at the center of our galaxy using infrared light.  These observations surprised astronomers.

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...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpZRjII8qkc

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

Streamed live on Feb 2, 2026.

One long standing mystery in astronomy were the quasars. Incomprehensible energy blasting out of a point-like source, billions of light years away. We now know these are actively feeding supermassive black holes, which can turn off and on in a startlingly short period of time. Today: When black holes awaken! Our Universe is filled with sleeping monsters. And sometimes, whether we want it or not, they wake up hungry. In...

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 June, 2025.

Today's 2 topics:

- In the search for life on Mars, Europa, Titan, and elsewhere in the universe astro-biologists are scouring the Earth for creatures tough enough to flourish under really difficult conditions. So far the leading species are the Tardigrades commonly known as water bears or moss piglets.

- Data are consistent with the hypothesis that the planet K2-18...