Astronomy Cast

Astronomers are very resourceful, when it comes to light, they use the whole spectrum - from radio to gamma rays. We see in visible light, but that's just a tiny portion of the spectrum. Today we're going to celebrate the other end of the spectrum; the radio end, where photons really stretch out their wavelengths.

This week we wonder if the Universe is going to collapse and then expand again, how satellites can have such different velocities, and the size of the observable Universe. If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to [email protected] and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

When it comes to telescopes, bigger is better. But bigger is more expensive. Way more expensive. To keep the costs reasonable while improving the sensitivity of their instruments, astronomers use an amazing technique called interferometry. Instead of building a single huge telescope, you can merge the light from several telescopes to act like a much larger telescope. It's a technique that has already revolutionized Earth-based observing - but just wait until it gets into space...

This week we find out how hard it is to hit the Moon with a laser, and if scientists lose contact with the Mars rovers when they go behind the Sun. If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to [email protected] and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

You can't make a Solar System without a whole lot of dust. And that's the problem. This dust has blocked astronomers views into some of the most fascinating parts of the cosmos. It shields the galactic core, enshrouds newly forming stars and their planets, and blocks our view to churning supermassive black holes, actively feeding in distant galaxies. But new telescopes and techniques are allowing astronomers to peer through this dust, and see these events like never before.

You’ve heard us talk about capsules, you’ve heard us talk about space suits, well today we take a look at the only currently in use reusable space craft. It’s a not a bird, its not a plane – It’s the US Space Shuttle. And to make it interesting – we’ve sent Scott Miller, Astronomy Cast student web developer, down to watch the launch so he can bring us back us first hand story.

Orbiting black holes generate gravity waves. This week Bob Novella of Skeptics Guide to the Universe is going to pepper Pamela with questions, testing her ability to leap from tides to gravitational waves to Higgs bosons. We'll see where this takes us on this skeptical journey through what is known and what we're trying to learn about this universe.

Dreaming up new planets is a favorite pastime of science fiction writers, but the universe often has them beat – coming with planets in place and forms that we had quite thought to imagine. Today we know of 228 stars orbiting alien stars, and in this episode we will look at the diversity of these worlds, from Mushy Lava covered planets to Icy Giants to the hottest of hot Jupiters.

This week we find out if moons around other planets could support life, if there's anything out there between galaxies, and whether stars form rings. If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to [email protected] and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

The space capsule has been around for almost 50 years, when Yuri Gagarin headed to space in 1961. There have been many programs that used capsules by both the Americans and the Russians, and even the Chinese are using them now for their spaceflight program. Let's take a look at this rugged, dependable space vehicle that going to making a comeback in the next decade, when NASA sends humans back to the Moon.