An excellent Astronomy podcast for beginners, explained in easy terms for a general audience. If you are interested in Astronomy or think you may be this is great listening.


Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Cast brings you a weekly fact-based journey through the cosmos.

Ep. 170: Coordinate Systems
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
27 Dec 2009 at 7:00pm
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. Today we're going explain them, so you don't need to avoid them any more. Soon, you'll be ready to find anything in the cosmos.
Ep. 169: Fermi Mission
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
20 Dec 2009 at 7:00pm
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 what this mission will do, and its discoveries so far.
Ep. 168: Enrico Fermi
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
13 Dec 2009 at 7:00pm
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 the new Fermi mission.
Ep. 167: Future Civilizations
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
6 Dec 2009 at 7:00pm
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 into the Solar System and eventually the galaxy. You just need to think big.
Ep. 166: Multiverses
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
29 Nov 2009 at 7:00pm
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 theory up?
Ep. 165: Doppler Effect
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
22 Nov 2009 at 7:00pm
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 extrasolar planets to the expansion of distant galaxies.
Ep. 164: Inside the Atom
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
15 Nov 2009 at 7:00pm
We've talked about the biggest of the big, now let's focus in on the smallest of the small. Let's see what's inside that basic building block of matter: the atom. You probably know the basics, but with ever more powerful particle accelerators, physicists are revealing particles within particles, announcing new discoveries all the time.
Ep. 163: Auroras
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
8 Nov 2009 at 7:00pm
When the Sun's solar winds crash into the Earth's magnetosphere, we get to enjoy an incredible light show called auroras, or the Northern and Southern Lights. Let's learn about what causes these incredible phenomena, and the best times and places that you can see them with your own eyes.
Ep. 162: Edwin Hubble
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
1 Nov 2009 at 7:00pm
You might know the name "Hubble" because of the Hubble Space Telescope. But this phenomenal observatory was named after one of the most influential astronomers in modern history. Hubble discovered that galaxies are speeding away from us in all directions, leading to our current understanding of an expanding Universe. Let's learn about the man behind the telescope.
Ep. 161: Launch Facilities
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
25 Oct 2009 at 8:00pm
Launching a rocket into space requires a big effort on the ground. Space agencies have built up huge infrastructures to store, prepare and launch rockets. Let's take a look at what's involved on the ground at a place like Cape Canaveral. What happens before, during and after a launch.
Ep. 160: Eclipses
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
18 Oct 2009 at 8:00pm
Every now and then, the Moon destroys the Sun. Okay, not destroys, covers. Well, not really covers, but from here on Earth, sitting inside the shadow of the Moon, that's what it sure looks like. These events are called eclipses, or more precisely, transits and occultations. They occur whenever one object passes in front of another from a 3rd perspective. They're beautiful and exciting, and deliver a tremendous amount of science as well.
Ep. 159: Planet X
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
11 Oct 2009 at 8:00pm
Astronomers have been searching for the mysterious Planet X for hundreds of years. It was the search for a theoretical planet beyond Uranus that turned up Neptune, and then again for Pluto. And even now there are some astronomers who think there's a more distant planet out there. Oh, and there are a bunch of pseudoscience cranks trying to freak people out about the end of the world. Don't worry, we'll make time for them too, but first let's start with some real science.
Ep. 158: Pulsars
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
4 Oct 2009 at 8:00pm
Imagine an object with the mass of the Sun, crushed down to the size of Manhattan. Now set that object spinning hundreds of times a second, blasting out powerful beams of radiation like a lighthouse. That's a pulsar, one of the most exotic objects in the Universe.
Ep. 157: Constellations
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
27 Sep 2009 at 8:00pm
Did you know there are 88 constellations in the night sky? Let's learn about the constellations and other star formations, their history, their connection to the zodiac, and how to find some of them.
Ep. 156: Famous Stars
by info@astronomycast.com (Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay)
20 Sep 2009 at 8:00pm
This week we're going to talk about famous stars. But not those boring human ones you read about in People magazine. No, we're talking about those hot balls of plasma across the distant Universe. The close ones, the bright ones, the massive ones, the giant ones. Let's get to know some famous stars.