The 365 Days of Astronomy

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. [email protected]

In this episode, we cover key visual observing highlights for Saturn, including prominent features like the Equatorial Band and Equatorial Zone visible in amateur telescope. We also look at historical transient phenomena, such as the massive, planet-encircling "Great White Spots" that erupt in the northern hemisphere roughly once every Saturnian year.

Alexio wrote:

Hi Chris and Shane,

I saw Saturn in your Observer's Calendar show notes. I'm an amateur astronomer in Mississauga, and thought you might enjoy a website I've built called Astrochron. Its Saturn model lets you move through past and future years and watch the rings open wide, narrow to almost edge-on, then open up again with the other face in view.

Here's Saturn:

https://astrochron.app/objects/saturn

Regards,

Alexio

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

From November 2020.

The brightest kilonova ever was detected and challenges current gamma-ray burst models. Plus, the history of water on both Venus and Mars, how radioactive elements may help habitability, and a little-known mass extinction event here on Earth. But wait! There's more… new images of the Perseus Cluster, a recaptured 1960s rocket booster, the shortest measurement of time, a treasure trove of copies of Principia, and SpaceX is certified to launch Crew-1 this weekend.

Perseus Cluster pix:

https://www.sci.news/astronomy/perseus-galaxy-cluster-radio-map-09213.html#google_vignette

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-selects-gimli-to-search-the-marius-lunar-pit-for-a-potential-lunar-base-site

Recorded by our editor, Richard Drumm.

Written by Matthew Williams.

Lava tubes on the Moon and Mars are some of the most fascinating and useful places we could explore. These are natural tunnels below the surface that could protect astronauts from radiation, provide a constant temperature, and could even be sealed off as a place for a habitat. Now, a new mission is under development called GIMLI that could use ground-penetrating radar to scan beneath the surface and map out the extent of a lunar cave network.

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Paul Hill hosts solo!

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

In this podcast extra episode we talk to Dr. Karen Masters, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Haverford College, Pennsylvania about The Hubble Tuning Fork and Galaxy classification. But it's not only about that canonized galaxy classification system, it's also about how citizen science – astronomy done by absolutely anybody from their homes – can and does change the accepted wisdom and advance science.

Galaxy Zoo:

http://zoo1.galaxyzoo.org

Twelve Years of Galaxy Zoo:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1910.08177

Morphological Classification of Galaxies:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.09610

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhkGOIAhBWc

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Oct 3, 2026.

Mission Tech Part 3.

Instead of sending up an entire space station for every mission, you can just send up a tiny can filled with astronauts. But that takes docking. And today we're gonna talk about what it takes to connect two spacecraft together. How to keep a cargo safe to get into orbit, and how to get in and out of your spacecraft without killing everyone!

We removed all ads from the show. We need to get to 1500 patrons to keep it this way. We need your support!

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org

From April, 2026.

Today's 2 topics:

- In 2012 as it crossed the orbit of Neptune heading towards the Sun a small space rock was 250 times fainter than can be detected by the Hubble Space Telescope. Five years later, after it had rounded the Sun, it became visible in asteroid hunter's telescopes for about 16 days, as it streaked across our planet's orbit at 37 miles per second, as it continued to move away from the Sun. During that brief period of time it was discovered by the PanSTARRS group in Hawaii, tracked by telescopes around the world, and given the name.

- The NASA Curiosity Rover has shown us evidence of ancient rivers and bodies of liquid water on the martian surface. Given its thin cold atmosphere, seeps of liquid water, presently on the surface of Mars which are capable of hosting microbial life appear to be unlikely. Scientists were thus surprised when high resolution imaging of the red planet's surface revealed thousands of intriguing dark streaks called RSL on hundreds of rocky slope areas. These fascinating features slowly extend down hill and grow during the martian warm season, fade during the colder season, and reappear during the next martian warm period.

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Neutron stars, the compact remains of a massive star following a supernova explosion, are the densest matter in the Universe. Some neutron stars, known as magnetars, also claim the record for the strongest magnetic fields of any object. How magnetars, which are a mere 15 kilometers across, form and produce such colossal magnetic fields remains a mystery.

New observations by a team of astronomers, including NSF's NOIRLab's Dr. André-Nicolas Chené, may shed important light on the origin of these magnetic powerhouses. Using various telescopes around the globe, including the Canada-France-Hawai'i Telescope (CFHT) on Maunakea, the researchers have identified a new type of astronomical object — a massive magnetic helium star (an unusual variant of a Wolf-Rayet star), which may be the precursor of a magnetar.

In this podcast, André-Nicolas Chené describes the process of finding the first known potential magnetar progenitor.

Bios:

Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF's NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. André-Nicolas Chené is an associate astronomer at NOIRLab. He completed his PhD at the Université de Montréal in 2007 and learned everything about the fundamentals of astronomical observations at the Observatoire du Mont Mégantic. He was research fellow at the NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre and postdoc jointly at the Universidad de Concepción and the Universidad de Valparaíso before joining the Gemini Observatory (now a program of NOIRLab) in 2013. For almost 10 years, André-Nicolas took part in every phase of a Gemini observing program life cycle and has played a central role in Gemini's user support effort. André-Nicolas's research interests are massive stars, hot winds, star clusters, and stellar evolution.

Links:

NOIRLab Press Release: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2323/

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

From September 23, 2026.

This week we're doing a weather check.

No, really. Let's talk about the weather! All of them!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Hosted by our Director, Avivah Yamani.

Explore October 2026's equatorial skies as we have Saturn at opposition, Mercury at dusk, Orionid meteors, and the Moon's celestial encounters.

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

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------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

October Part 1.

Paul Hill and Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host.

Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.

We dive into autumn with a baby Planet, the SMILE mission, New weather on Saturn, a new crater on the moon, an update on Nancy Roman and a mission to Phobos. As well as our monthly sky and moon guide.

SMILE Mission Gif:

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile/Science_begins_for_Smile

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.

Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!)

------------------------------------

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].