Astronomy Cast

AstronomyCast 264: The Hazards of Space Flight, by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

An object at rest tends to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. Isaac Newton dismantled the traditional idea that objects would tend to slow down over time, and described the concept of inertia: the amount an object will resist changes in its motion.

AstronomyCast 263: Radioactive Decay, by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

AstronomyCast 262: Solar Sails, by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

Last week we talked about energy, and this week we’ll talk about mass. And here’s the crazy thing. Mass, matter, the stuff that the Universe is made of, is the same thing as energy. They’re connected through Einstein’s famous formula – E=mc2. But what is mass, how do we measure it, and how does it become energy, and vice versa.

In this week's Weekly Space Hangout, we talk about the Transit of Venus, the transfer of the space shuttle Enterprise, the future of commercial space exploration, and the new movie Prometheus.

We're joined by Alan Boyle from http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/ and Amy Shira Teitel from http://www.amyshirateitel.com/

AstronomyCast 261: Lasers & Masers in Astronomy, by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay

Our entire civilization depends on energy: getting it, converting it, burning it, and conserving it. But how do physicists

think about energy? How do they measure and quantify it. And what is energy's special relationship with mass?

In this episode of the Weekly Space Hangout, we're joined by special guest Robert Nemiroff from Astronomy Picture of the Day. We also talked about the return of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, a manned mission to Venus, nomadic planets and the announcement of the Square Kilometer Array.

Our team included: Amy Shira Tietel, Jason Major, Alan Boyle, Nicole Gugliucci and Robert Nemiroff

AstronomyCast 260: Lasers & Masers, by Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay