Streamed live on May 26, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

Some of our favorite robots are rovers currently roving around the surface of the Moon & Mars. But there’s some pretty tricky terrain out there and engineers are scheming up clever ways to explore other worlds inspired by life that crawls, slithers, hops and flies. As we explore more surfaces and more complex surfaces throughout the solar system, mission teams are designing robot explorers that don't sit still and also don't rove. In this episode, we're going to take a look at the new technologies that are allowing technology to get around.

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This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. 

https://www.patreon.com/AstronomyCast

Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. 

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on May 19, 2025.

Computers are getting smaller, faster and more capable, which has enabled an entirely mew class of satellites: CubeSats. A mission small enough that you can hold it in your hands, and yet powerful enough to even travel to other planets and send messages home. 

Every year, our electronics seem to get smaller and more powerful, with today's smart watches being more fully featured than the computers Pamela and Fraser had as little kids. These tiny processors, sensors, and transmitters are allowing tiny satellites with powerful functionality, and today we take a look at how this is changing space exploration. 

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. https://www.patreon.com/AstronomyCast

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on May 12, 2025.

NASA’s newly launched SphereX mission is up & operational and has completed its initial checkout and “first light”. Everything looks good! And now it’s starting its science operations. And that’s good enough for Pamela! And THAT means we can talk about it. So let’s do that! There's a new space telescope in town (or at least in LEO). Let's check out what it's looking at and looking to do.

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. 

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on May 5, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay.

There are stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. But very little evidence of anything in between. Where are all the intermediate-mass black holes that should be the building blocks of the biggest ones? Actually, the science has been accelerating rapidly and we now know of hundreds of them. The question marks in our understanding are slowly getting replaced with data. Let's review what we now know about intermediate mass black holes and their origins. 

SUPPORTED BY YOU!

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos.

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Apr 28, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

You’ve heard the news! Astronomers are reporting the discovery of biosignatures at K2-18b. Is this proof of life or should we all be more skeptical? It's in the news and people are claiming aliens... but is it aliens? Let's see what the data actually says. 

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos.  

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Apr 21, 2025.

I’m sure you’ve heard that all eyes are on the Moon’s southern pole. This is where various  NASA and Chinese missions are targeting. What makes this region so special and what are the special challenges that explorers will face. From TV shows to real-world missions, it seems like everyone just wants to explore the Moon's South Pole. But why? Learn here!

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. 

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Apr 16, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

There is an ongoing debate on where NASA should go next with humans: to the Moon or Mars. (Or maybe an asteroid or one of Mars’ moons). We are on the verge of sending humans back to the Moon. At the same time others would prefer we focus our exploration on Mars. It’s a tough choice because there are costs and benefits to both. Let’s try to give this conversation some nuance. Let's discuss the reasons for each of these worlds.

SUPPORTED BY YOU!

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos.

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Apr 7, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay.

Even empty space isn’t empty. It’s filled with the quantum fluctuations of spacetime itself. Which can be measured with famous experiments like the Casimir Effect. There is a surprising amount of energy in space itself, which has led to some interesting theories about how the future of the Universe might evolve. You can't get something from nothing but sometimes that nothing is something you can get something from.

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos.

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Mar 31, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

When enormous stars detonate as supernovae they release a burst of neutrinos that can be the first sign of a coming explosion. Now, astronomers have built a network to watch for that flash of neutrinos, and help direct their telescopes for when the sky show begins. Supernovae explosions occur in stages, with neutrinos being emitted hours before photons. If we can accurately detect those neutrinos, we might just be able to get on target before the light show even starts.... Maybe.

SUPPORTED BY YOU

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos.

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong

Streamed live on Mar 24, 2025.

Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay

The Hubble Tension is a vexing problem, with astronomers measuring the expansion of the Universe at different points in its history and getting different results. Errors have mostly been ruled out, which leaves the potential for new physics. Has the strength of dark energy been changing over time? We thought Dark Energy was constant with time, but new results from DESI say maybe not, and honestly, if it wasn't constant the Hubble Tension would be a whole lot easier to solve.

SUPPORTED BY YOU!

This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube videos. 

Thanks to: BogieNet, Stephen Vei, Jeanette Wink, Siggi Kemmler, Andrew Poelstra, Brian Cagle, David Truog, Ed, David, Gerhard Schwarzer, Sergio Sancevero, Sergey Manouilov, Burry Gowen, David Rossetter, Michael Purcell, Jason Kwong