Allan I Carswell Observatory Presents: York Universe

A history mystery, news items and historical items collide in this observatory run for the ages. Your hosts Dr. Elaina Hyde and Julie Tomé talk about Orionids, Observatories, Eclipses and more.

Episode image: Ophiuchus - miniature from the manuscript of "Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib al-ṯābita" made for Ulugh Beg. Probably Samarkand, c. 1430 - 1440. BnF, département des Manuscrits, arabe 5036, fol. 81v. Public domain.

This episode we talk about the first and most recent Canadian astronauts as well as some fun cosmological news in terms of black holes and white dwarves. With all of the interesting things happening out there in the Cosmos we also cover a bit of what you can see in the sky at night. This episode features co-hosts Arfa Ali and Mahesh Aravamudan.

(Image credit: NASA) Canadian Space Agency astronaut Marc Garneau operated the Canadarm during space shuttle mission STS-97 as well as STS-77.

This episode features the first appearance by host Nakul Sethuram Ramjee as we discuss planets and exoplanets and adventure. From spacecrafts who didn't quite make it to Mars, to planets who didn't get enough spacecraft visits (Neptune) we journey out to exoplanets to discuss recent news, planets who go backwards and radio signals from planets outside our solar system.

Image Credit: AICO Neptune, 2023, E.A.Hyde, Sunna Withers

Paul and Julie revisit the birth of Ole Rømer, who demonstrated that light travels at a finite speed, and the photos taken by Voyager 1. In the news, they discuss zombie stars, hungry stars, and two pretty impressive space missions - the Nancy Grace Roman telescope and the SpaceX Starship.

Episode image: The first image of the Earth and Moon in a single frame as captured by Voyager 1 on September 18, 1977 (NASA/JPL).

This episode features our host Dr. Hyde and a special guest co-host Cassia Bond. Cassia is an astrophysics PhD student and science communicator with a research focus on characterizing artificial satellites in near-Earth orbit. We discuss the crash clock and some possible satellite clean-up methods as well as Cassia's recent research in satellite detections at the Allan I Carswell Observatory.

Image Credit: Celestrak (https://celestrak.org/events/collision/)

This episode features soon to be MSc Sergiy Kernytsky who is joining us to talk about his astronomical and engineering research in satellites, and in particular how to find them. We discuss 'situational awareness' and his use of Event cameras as possible satellite detectors as well as a few other objects up there in our night skies.

Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/DECam DELVE Survey

Julie, Maheen, and Robin reflect on the lives of Fred Hoyle and Samuel Pierpont Langley, not to mention science communication and timekeeping.

Special guest Victoria Di Giovanni joins the team to talk about a very unique event held to help grieving folks heal through connection with the night sky.

Image credit: June Parsons/AICO

Join Dr. Hyde and Mahesh as they welcome Arfa Ali for her first York Universe co-hosting role with a dark astronomy topic. Black Hole stars are the news of the day in this exciting episode. We talk about black skies under eclipses, share some viewing stories and dive into the news around the Quasi-Stars or theoretical black hole stars that have been observed by JWST.

Image Credit: Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT

Join our crew for a journey in the skies. We look at our sky at night; it is meteor month in August, so there is a lot to enjoy! We also discuss a bit of history and the growing issue of space junk, whether as a threat to modern astronomy, an asset for interconnectivity, or a space traffic hazard.

Image Credit: AICO, KPPO, Bruce Waters, 2026 Astronomer in Residence Program

https://www.yorku.ca/science/observatory/air/astronomer-in-residence-blog/

Join our crew for a journey in the skies. We look at our sky at night; it is meteor month in August, so there is a lot to enjoy! We also cover some fun manmade objects at the International Space Station, from cancer treatment material to semiconductors, lunar space missions from China and much more!

Image Credit: AICO, KPPO, Ryan Marciniak, 2026 Astronomer in Residence Program

https://www.yorku.ca/science/observatory/air/astronomer-in-residence-blog/