The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org
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Jan 4, 2026 • 6min

Travelers in the Night Eps. 843 & 844: Possible Impactor & Global Meteor Network

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 2025. Today's 2 topics: - On 27 December 2024 the Atlas group in Chile discovered an object now known as 2024 YR4 which appeared to have a significant chance of impacting Earth 22 December of 2032. The most recent data indicates the chance that 2024 YR4 impact Earth is about 1 in 25,000. These data indicate our moon has about a 1 in 700 chance to be impacted by this space rock. Even so astronomers are preparing for 2028 when 2024 YR4 will again come within the range of our instruments. Current data indicates 2024 YR4 will miss the Moon by less than 1,000 miles on 2032 December 22 giving astronauts there a Merry Christmas. - As the Earth travels in its orbit around the Sun it collides with objects called meteoroids traveling through space. These tiny members of the solar system range in size from dust grains to objects a meter in diameter. By becoming part of the GMN's network, your data will help to discover and document meteor showers, aid in identifying the parent cometary objects, and in some cases help to identify locations to search for meteorites. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Jan 3, 2026 • 54min

Awesome Astronomy - December Part 2 Yeeting Your Office Into a Flamepit

Paul Hill & Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. In this chatty news episode 164 we chat about more Artemis mission shenanigans and how the Russians have wrecked their only human rated launch pad. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Jan 2, 2026 • 11min

EVSN - Double Dose of Planetary Pandemonium

From October 9, 2020. Join us as we take a look back to two weeks' worth of planetary stories, including solar system research on a binary trans-Neptunian object, diamonds in meteorites, the stratification of Titan's lakes, and how Jupiter affected Venus' habitability. Plus we go farther into space and see how super flares affect the chances for life on exoplanets and find an exoplanet with vaporized metal in its atmosphere. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Jan 1, 2026 • 40min

Actual Astronomy - Observer's Calendar for January

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. actualastronomy@gmail.com This month in episode 516 we talk about the many things to see in the night sky including, carbon stars, double stars, 24P Schaumasse is a Comet that just cracks 8th magnitude making it visible in binoculars. We also detail how people can explore Jupiter through a telescope followed by many NGC and Messier Objects you can see in the winter sky. Jan 1 - Struve 627 in Orion Colorful Double Star Primary Star (A component): Yellow, golden-yellow, pale orange, or sometimes just white. Companion Star (B component): Bluish, blue-green, lilac, or pale green. Jan 2 - 40 Harmonia at opposition a large S-type (silicate) asteroid located in the inner region of the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Discovery: It was discovered on March 31, 1856, by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt. Naming: It is named after Harmonia, the Greek goddess of harmony and peace, to mark the end of the Crimean War. Size: It has a mean diameter of approximately 111.3 kilometers (69.1 miles), making it larger than 99% of all known asteroids. Orbit: Harmonia orbits the Sun every 3.42 years (approx. 1,250 days) with a relatively low eccentricity of 0.046, meaning its path is nearly circular. Rotation: It completes one full rotation on its axis every 8.91 hours Jan 3 - Full Moon - Quadrantid Meteors ZHR = 120 in Evening for NA observers - Moon interferes They are named after Quadrans Muralis, a 19th-century constellation that is no longer officially recognized. Constellation Origin: Lalande created the constellation to honor the mural quadrant, a large wall-mounted scientific instrument he and his nephew used at the observatory of l'École Militaire in Paris to measure star positions. Location: It was situated in the northern sky between the modern constellations of Boötes, Draco, and Hercules, near the "handle" of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). Decline: In 1922, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) omitted Quadrans Muralis when it formalized the official list of 88 modern constellations, reassigning its stars to neighboring constellations Jan 5 - Sig Orionis colorful double star Sigma Orionis AB: This is the brightest component of the system and is a very close binary that appears as one star in most amateur telescopes. It is actually a triple system itself (Aa, Ab, and B). The primary stars (Aa and Ab) are highly massive, very hot blue stars that orbit each other every 143 days. The outer component (B) orbits the inner pair every 157 years. Sigma Orionis C, D, and E: These are additional companion stars that are farther from the AB pair and can be observed with small-to-medium sized telescopes, making the system appear as a beautiful quartet or quintuple system. Component D is magnitude 6.62 and is about 13 arcseconds from the AB pair. Component E is magnitude 6.66 and is approximately 41 arcseconds away. This star is notable as the prototype of the rare "helium-rich" stars. Jan 6 - Regulus 0.5-degrees South of Moon Jan 8 - 24P Schaumasse Comet just cracks 8th magnitude, at Mag. 7.9 it is firmly a Bino comet Jan 10 - Last Quarter - Jupiter at Opposition - mag. -2.5, 46 arc seconds in Gemini GRS looks nice and Orange/Red NEB and SEB are prominent How to best observe? Powers/Filters/Bino viewers Book rec. Jupiter and How to Observe It by John McAnally - NGC 1851 well placed but I'd need to dig a trench to see it - Carbon Star RV Monoceros Jan 11 -Follow Arcturus into daylight this week - M79, M42, M43, M78 well placed Jan 12 - Lunar Curtis X visible Jan 14 - Antares 0.6-degrees N of Moon - not for us - NGC's 1807 and 1817 well placed Jan 15 - NGC 1514 well placed Jan 17 - NGC 2169 well placed Jan 18 - New Moon Jan 23 Saturn, Neptune 4-degrees S of Moon - 44 Nysa at Opposition M=8.8 Largest and brightest of Nysian Family of Asteroids It was discovered by Hermann Goldschmidt on May 27, 1857, and named after the mythical land of Nysa in Greek mythology - M3, M5 well placed Jan 26 - First quarter - Lunar Straight Wall - Eyes of Clavius Jan 28 - Jeweled Handle on Moon Jan 31 - Jupiter 4-degrees S of Moon - Crater Baily We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 31, 2025 • 30min

Had Astra Historia - The 2026 Doggett Prize, Part 3

Episode 209. Today's guest: Professor Thomas Hockey, with the University of Northern Iowa, is the recipient of HAD's 2026 LeRoy E. Doggett Prize, which is awarded biennially to an individual who has significantly influenced the field of the history of astronomy by a career-long effort. In this episode, we'll not only conclude our discussion of his most recent book, but we'll also talk about some rather fun and interesting topics. H'ad astra historia is the official podcast for the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society. We're here to share stories from and about the people who study the stars, planets, and the cosmos. We'll be hearing from individuals who not only study the history of astronomy, but also those who lived it, who were "in the room" during pivotal events within the last 50 years or so. Podcast music: "Frost Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under creative commons: by attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Podcaster: Loretta Cannon (an AAS affiliate via Rose City Astronomers) is a science-and-word-nerd who really likes outer space and the people who study it. She quite enjoys working as HAD's podcaster, bringing astronomy stories to you. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 30, 2025 • 37min

Had Astra Historia - The 2026 Doggett Prize, Part 2

Episode 208. Today's guest: Professor Thomas Hockey, with the University of Northern Iowa, is the recipient of HAD's 2026 LeRoy E. Doggett Prize, which is awarded biennially to an individual who has significantly influenced the field of the history of astronomy by a career-long effort. In today's episode, our focus is mainly on his more significant books. H'ad astra historia is the official podcast for the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society. We're here to share stories from and about the people who study the stars, planets, and the cosmos. We'll be hearing from individuals who not only study the history of astronomy, but also those who lived it, who were "in the room" during pivotal events within the last 50 years or so. Podcast music: "Frost Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under creative commons: by attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Podcaster: Loretta Cannon (an AAS affiliate via Rose City Astronomers) is a science-and-word-nerd who really likes outer space and the people who study it. She quite enjoys working as HAD's podcaster, bringing astronomy stories to you. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 29, 2025 • 31min

Astronomy Cast Ep. 776: The Matter - Antimatter Dichotomy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGY4t683Xro Hosted by: Fraser Cain ( @frasercain ) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay ( @CosmoQuest ) Streamed live on Dec 22, 2025. Shortly after the big bang there were almost exactly the same amounts of matter and antimatter in the Universe, but there was just enough of a difference that we live in a matter-dominated Universe. But it didn't have to be that way! Explaining this mystery has been one of the great mysteries in astronomy, and today we'll see if there's been any progress! Why is the Universe the way it is? Specifically, why is it made mostly of matter? This is the question we'll look at today! This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast In this episode, we'd like to thank: Andrew Poelstra, BogieNet, Brian Cagle, Burry Gowen, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sérgio Sancevero We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 28, 2025 • 6min

Travelers in the Night Eps. 841 & 842: Moon Fragment & Tesla Recovered

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 March 2025. Today's 2 topics: - Astronomers have yet to discover any long lasting natural object, beside our Moon, which orbits the Earth, however, occasionally, a small space rock enters into a temporary dance with our home planet. - My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard was asteroid hunting in the constellation of Hydra with our Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona when a fast moving unknown point of light passed through a set of his images. After Greg reported his observations to the Minor Planet Center for the next 10 days it was tracked by observatories in Arizona, Italy, Hawaii, Australia, and Argentina. Citizen scientist H. A. Güler analyzed these data. The Minor Planet Center published the discovery of the near Earth asteroid 2018 CN41. The discovery was deleted when the object turned out to be a Falcon Heavy Rocket Upper stage with a Tesla roadster attached. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 27, 2025 • 35min

The Cosmic Savannah - Ep. 77: Troublesome Inkathazo & the Age of Giants

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize, Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela & Dr. Daniel Cunnama. In this "mid-season special" episode, we introduce you to an extraordinary giant radio galaxy nicknamed "Inkathazo", meaning 'trouble' in isiXhosa and isiZulu. We speak with Kathleen Charlton, a Master's student from the University of Cape Town, about the discovery of Inkathazo and her newly published work on the topic. Kathleen spoke with us from the University of Oxford, where she was working with team members from the 'MIGHTEE' collaboration. She describes her experiences of first attending the AGN Populations Across Continents and Cosmic Time conference in Durham and then her research visit to Oxford. She also explains her research into both hydrogen absorption and giant radio galaxies. In her newly published paper, Kathleen uses South Africa's MeerKAT telescope to study the strange physics going on in three giant radio galaxies (or GRGs for short). GRGs are behemoth galaxies spewing out plasma jets spanning millions of light-years. She nicknamed one of these 'Inkathazo', which means 'trouble' in the African Xhosa and Zulu languages, because of its "troublesome" properties. It has unusually bent plasma jets and resides at the center of a galaxy cluster. This raises intriguing questions about how these enormous structures form and evolve. Kathleen describes how she used MeerKAT to create some of the highest-resolution "spectral age maps" of giant radio galaxies ever made. These maps track the age of the plasma across different parts of the GRG, providing clues about the complex plasma physics at work in these extreme galaxies. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.
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Dec 26, 2025 • 22min

EVSN - Six-Exoplanet System in Resonance, Challenges Formation Theories

From January 27, 2021. It's a day ending in 'y', and planetary formation theories are once again being challenged. This time the challenge comes from a six-planet system with five planets in resonance. Plus a cloudless Jupiter, TRAPPIST-1, volcanoes, and some science of the weird. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ 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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

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