AstronomyCast 338: Copernicus

by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

There's a lot you can learn by just staring at an object, watching how it changes in brightness. This is the technique of photometry, and it has helped astronomers discover variable stars, extrasolar planets, minor planets, supernovae, and much more.

AstronomyCast 337: Photometry

by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

How heavy is a kilogram, how long is a second? How warm is a degree? We measure our Universe is so many different ways, using different units of measurement. But how do scientists come up with measurement tools which are purely objective?

AstronomyCast 336: Units of Measure

by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

AstronomyCast 335: The Photoelectric Effect

by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

Pop quiz. How did Einstein win his Nobel prize? Was it for relativity? Nope, Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for the discovery of the photoelectric effect; how electrons are emitted from atoms when they absorb photons of light. But what is it? Let’s find out.

AstronomyCast 334: Chelyabinsk, One Year Later

by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

Around this time last year a space rock crashed into the Earth above Chelyabinsk, Russia. It brightened the skies for hundreds of kilometers, broke windows and injured many people. Let’s look back at the event. What happened, and what did we learn?

Just take a look at the surface of the Moon and you can see it experienced a savage beating in the past. Turns out, the whole Solar System is a cosmic shooting gallery, with stuff crashing into other stuff. It sure sounds violent, but then, we wouldn't be here without it.