Ep. 141: Volcanoes, Hot and Cold

The surface of Io, resurfaced by volcanoes.

You're familiar with volcanoes, eruptive vents where hot magma escapes the Earth's interior – sometimes with disastrous effects. But did you know that volcanoes have shaped many of the planets and moons in the Solar System, not just our own Earth? And just in the last few years astronomers have discovered there are cold volcanoes on some of the icy objects in the outer solar system.

Ep. 141: Volcanoes, Hot and Cold
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Ep. 140: Entanglement

Artist's impression of an experiment to test entanglement

One of the most amazing aspects of quantum mechanics is quantum entanglement. This is the strange behavior where particles can become entangled, so they're somehow connected to one another – no matter the distance between them. Interact with one particle and the other reacts instantly; even if they're separated by billions of light-years.

Ep. 140: Entanglement
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Questions Show: Galileoscope, Black Hole Time, and What Exactly is Energy?

Galileoscope Logo

If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

Galileoscope, Black Hole Time, and What Exactly is Energy?
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Questions Show: Telescope Suggestions, Black Hole Energy, and Universal Time

Celestron telescope.

If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

Telescope Suggestions, Black Hole Energy, and Universal Time
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Ep. 139: Energy Levels and Spectra

Stellar Spectra. Image credit: NOAO

Last week we took a peek into the tiny world of quantum mechanics, and its unintuitive, but very accurate mathematical predictions. And although we all appreciate the physics lesson, you're probably wondering what this all has to do with astronomy. Well, today we bring it all home and explain how quantum mechanics has given astronomers one of the most powerful tools they have to study the nature of the cosmos.

Ep. 139: Energy Levels and Spectra
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Questions: An Unlocked Moon, Energy Into Black Holes, and the Space Station's Orbit

What if the Moon wasn't tidally locked to the Earth?

What would happen if the Moon wasn't tidally locked to the Earth? What happens to all that mass and energy disappearing into a black hole? And how can we explain the space station's crazy orbit?

If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

An Unlocked Moon, Energy Into Black Holes, and the Space Station's Orbit
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Ep. 138: Quantum Mechanics

Einstein, one of the founders of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is the study of the very tiny; the nature of reality at the smallest scale. It's a science that defies common sense, and delivers no helpful analogies. And yet it delivers the goods, making scientific predictions with incredible accuracy. Let's look into the history of quantum theory, and then struggle to comprehend its connection to the Universe.

Ep. 138: Quantum Mechanics

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Questions Show: Hidden Fusion, the Speed of Neutrinos, and Hawking Radiation

The Sun. Image credit: NASA

Are new stars dark until their photons reach the surface? How fast do neutrinos travel? And what’s the story with Hawking Radiation?

If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

Hidden Fusion, the Speed of Neutrinos, and Hawking Radiation
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Ep. 137: Large Scale Structure of the Universe

Evolution of the large scale structure of the Universe. Image credit: NASA

This week we’re going to think big. Bigger than big. We’re going to consider the biggest things in the Universe. If you could pull way back, and examine regions of space billions of light-years across, what would you see? How is the Universe arranged at the largest scale? And more importantly… why?

Ep. 137: Large Scale Structure of the Universe

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Questions Show: The Source of Atmospheres, the Vanishing Moon, and a Glow After Sunset

Titan, seen by Cassini.

How do planets get their atmospheres? What would happen to the Earth if the Moon just disappeared? And what’s that strange glow we see after sunset?

If you've got a question for the Astronomy Cast team, please email it in to info@astronomycast.com and we'll try to tackle it for a future show. Please include your location and a way to pronounce your name.

The Source of Atmospheres, the Vanishing Moon, and a Glow After Sunset
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